"Robbing Peter to pay Paul"

Just when you think the administration is behaving admirably, they don't let you down...

Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont and an early critic of the administration's first pledges - $15 million and $35 million - for the tsunami victims, said he was pleased with the current $350 million pledge. But now, he said, he was worried that it would come at the expense of "famine victims in Africa and victims of genocide around the world."

"I worry that the administration is robbing Peter to pay Paul, helping people dying from disease and dehydration in Indonesia and Sri Lanka but taking that money from programs to relieve famine and childhood diseases," Mr. Leahy said.

With Congress not in session most of the month, the administration is consulting with senior Republican lawmakers, trying to cover the costs of this disaster without undermining Mr. Bush's other priorities like cutting the budget deficit while making his tax cuts permanent.

The administration plans to rely largely on money in the international disaster and famine assistance program at the United States Agency of International Development, according to Mr. Kolton.

That program's budget is $384.9 million for the fiscal year of 2005. The initial $350 million for the tsunami disaster would nearly eliminate funds available for any disaster later in the year.

After all, it's only a "pledge," right?