It's Money That Matters

We're in that part of the year where authorizing committees on the Hill invite agency leaders up to the Hill and are shocked, shocked to discover that the budget requested by whoever happens to sit in the White House just couldn't possibly cover everything they should be doing. Two cases in point from yesterday:

• Sen. Joseph Lieberman led a bipartisan group of Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs members in saying Homeland Security needs another $8 billion next year. "There is no cheap way to be better prepared," Lieberman said. "It takes money."
• House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., said the Air Force can't possibly be expected to maintain its current fleet and develop new aircraft at current funding rates. "We may be at the point where we simply have to get more money if we're going to modernize," he said.