Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) acknowledged on Wednesday that House Republicans had consciously voted to reduce the funds allocated to the State Department for embassy security since winning the majority in 2010.

"Absolutely," Chaffetz said. "Look we have to make priorities and choices in this country. We have…15,000 contractors in Iraq. We have more than 6,000 contractors, a private army there, for President Obama, in Baghdad. And we’re talking about can we get two dozen or so people into Libya to help protect our forces. When you’re in tough economic times, you have to make difficult choices. You have to prioritize things.”

For the past two years, House Republicans have continued to deprioritize the security forces protecting State Department personnel around the world. In fiscal year 2011, lawmakers shaved $128 million off of the administration's request for embassy security funding. House Republicans drained off even more funds in fiscal year 2012 -- cutting back on the department's request by $331 million.

The Republicans in the House of Representatives have severely cut the budget for embassy security and are moving right now to cut even more from embassy security budgets. Yet, they can stand up there, like the hypocrites they are, and act shocked, SHOCKED that those diplomats weren't better protected. Give me a break sullyman2112. Give me an effing break.

you don't know what the hell you are talking about. you have to find out all of what happened who did it before you get on tv like mittons did before the people where even identified or their relatives where even notified, so back to your lying eyes republicans and vote them in to office then ask why your jobs where all sent to china and mitt romney got the profits and you got the shaft or you loose your social security and medicare, that is what will happen and you know it . the only reason you don't want obama to win is because he is black, your lying eyes, truth hurts don't it

Joyce - you're just a talking head repeating EDS lies. You liberal idiots even get you phrases from him like Lyin Ryin! I noticed EDS didn't even mention Benghazi tonight. Too busy talking about Ryin and the debate with Biden. Of course you're going to try and turn this around and blame Republicans. Get a clue Obama and Hillary are in charge here! Romney did the right thing after Obama started apologizing again.

Why aren't Obama and Hillary answering the charges? All the power and none of the responsibility... typical of liberals. There too busy covering up for political reasons. We know from the ambassadors diary that there wasn't adequate protection. Obama and Hillary pulled two security teams out in August even while they were being asked by Ambassador Stevens to beef up security! This administration and the state department is full of lying liberal trash. Had this debacle occurred during the Bush years, The Media would be clamoring for Condi Rice's head. .... media hypocrites

Joyce - also if you think this country would be better off under Obama rather than Romney you're a complete idiot! Economists predict that if Obama is reelected the national debt will be $22 trillion by 2016! Do everyone a favor on election day, STAY HOME! You're too stupid to vote!

Ah no that would be you sully stop projecting after all you believe you are the one who gets to decide what topics Ed show viewers get to talk about. Really sully that you are jumping the shark before facts are known, well we seen Fox news do that a number of times 2 times the country fell for it and made huge errors before finding out Fox news faked the news. Sorry to inform you sully but that is the project robme deficit if robme gets elected.

whomi - STFU! I don't have the patience for you're ignorant posts tonight!

What part of the Obama administration pleading with Congress to not cut funding for Embassy security don't you get?

Now, Mittens is using one of the dead SEALS as political gain making up a story about him while his friend dispute it ever happened and his mom is telling him to stop using her dead son or political gain. He's pulled his little story off his campaign stumping... moron, liar.... piece of JELLO.

Satchamo - Nordstrom, a State Department regional security officer, told lawmakers that Kennedy issued a "decision memo" in December 2011 requiring that the Benghazi post be manned with five diplomatic security agents, but that it usually had only three or four.

"He (Nordstrom) stated that he sent two cables to State Department headquarters in March and July 2012 requesting additional Diplomatic Security Agents for Benghazi, but that he received no responses," the memo said.

At some point, however, it appears Nordstrom learned the views of Lamb because he told the committee she "wanted to keep the number of U.S. security personnel in Benghazi artificially low," the memo said.

Satchmo - There were NO cuts. The legislation hit the floor but was never enacted

Something tells me this will turn out just like the bogus Fast & Furious "scandal" that Fox News invented to try to get rid of Attorney General Eric Holder, to activate their gun-toting base, and to score more gun sales for their master, the NRA.

Republicans are so pathetic. It makes me sick that our taxpayer money goes to fund the salaries of these con artists who can only win an election by lying, cheating, dividing us and hurting America.

Really sully now you are telling people to STFU for calling you on your Fox news fake outrage. Really sully you tea bagged republicans crack me up, you first claim based on a 5 minute video that the "NEW" black panthers were intimidating voters, then when GWB's DOJ threw it out because of lack of evidence Fox news told you it was Obama's DOJ except the case was settled before Obama was in office, yet does that stop you whiny little tea bagged republicans wetting your shorts in fear of the "New" black panthers, why no it doesn't. So go take your fake outrage back to Fox where you can fit in with the rest of the scared sheep.

@sullyman2112, RE:

Obama has shown he is an incompetent failure on domestic issues.

Yeah! He was definitely not able to prevent almost all of the members of the GOP in Congress, either directly or by acting like lemmings and doing what McConnell wants, from conspiring against Obama to make him look as bad as they could fool We the People into believing, not caring that they would also be factually responsible for slowing down the recovery from the Recession and preventing the creation of up to at least a million or so jobs because they refused to fund rebuilding roads, bridges, dams, schools, etc., that have been neglected since Reagan was President.

Moreover, the members of the GOP in Congress are too stubborn to accept the fact that it's the Middle Class, not the rich, who cause new jobs to be created, but only if the Middle Class has sufficient discretionary income to buy new stuff like cars, TVs, and other products, thereby establishing sufficient demand to buy the stock on hand and motivate the business owners to then create jobs to make more products to satisfy the demand. But, Obama knows what the GOP refuses to believe. Therefore, it's the GOP, in their misguided obsession to prevent Obama from being reelected, who are the abject failures when it comes to domestic issues.

The only thing that has trickled down since Reagan first pushed for Supply-Side Economics is debt, because the wealth has flowed upwards, often times much faster than a trickle, to such an extent that the wealthy have an unhealthy concentration of wealth along with a lack of morals or vision to realize that if even 10% of that excess wealth, if it were to actually be redistributed down to the Middle Class, would be sufficient to create the necessary demand, from the Middle Class, needed for job creation and a healthy market economy, an expansion of the tax base, and additional revenue needed to not only fund government obligations, but start an earnest effort towards paying down deficit and debt, balance the budget, and have a budget surplus again.

If only Greenspan and Bush-43 had not been so dead set against the idea of accumulated budget surpluses, after paying off the national debt, and actually generate equity rather than debt, that equity, instead of being kept as Retained Earnings, could have been used to establish Endowment Funds to help pay down the unfunded liabilities associated with Social Security and Medicare, from the interest off of those Endowment Funds. Such interest could have also been used to make a serious effort at solving the problems associated with poverty.

@Saty13, RE: Comment #1.11,

Something tells me this will turn out just like the bogus Fast & Furious "scandal"....

The only reason why Fast & Furious ever happened is because there is no law making it illegal to be a Straw Purchaser in Arizona. Lawyers from the US Attorney's Office told the agents with the BATF Group VII, based out of Phoenix, that the only way to get a conviction of a straw purchaser in Arizona would be if a crime, like murder or armed robbery, was committed using a gun transferred from the straw purchaser to someone else, using that gun. Enough of Arizona is so gun-happy that the NRA doesn't have to lobby the State Legislature to abuse the Second Amendment.

sullyman 2112

Everyone around here knows that nothing can occur without Congress appropriating money for it. That is how we got out of the Vietnam War, if you recall. Now Congressman Chaffetz, from his lofty position, correctly said that priorities had to be addressed to manage these finite resources. Benghazi, Yemen, Egypt, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey, Sudan - all these places were clamoring for more security from the same finite resources because of the same threats. Congress did not appropriate more so the State Department could not provide more. Congress indicated cuts to security resources were coming so the State Department had to plan for them. Benghazi was caught in the crosshairs and 4 diplomatic heroes died but if Mr. Romney or President Bush was in charge troops would be on the ground and 2,000 more casualties (and untold thousands of Libyan casualties) would result and billions more we have to borrow spent to establish another democracy those people have no stake in for another 10 years. This is the consequence of Republicans having their prioritities - limiting President Obama to one term instead of doing the people's business like protecting diplomats.

$22 trillion in debt is to be avoided and it only makes sense to attack the source. Most of the deficit over the last 4 years can be attributed to the Bush tax cuts and wars fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. The President knows this so he got out of Iraq and is winding down Afghanistan, choosing to spend defense funds pursuing and decimating the enemies that REALLY attacked this nation. He would have done better but for a Republican Congress who staged a sit down strike instead of attending to the people's business like attacking our national debt at the source.

The parable says it best: remove the plank from your own eye BEFORE taking the speck out of your neighbor's eye.

joyce lamb..i dont like Obama because he is half white..he doesnt represent me.

whom it may..dont they have bullying laws for people like you? the type to go to a post office and get revenge on someone because of political hatred??

Sorry but I am not a tea bagged republican who have a tendency to go on murder sprees because they didn't get their egg mcmuffin or some other stupid reason. Funny how you call my standing up to you right wing fanatics bullying when you are an intruder here that is here to disrespect Ed and Ed's fans. I'm sorry but the days when tea bagged republicans getting the silent treatment from the left are long past, playing nice with righties is no longer an option because they refuse to go away.

then dont expect any nice nices to you from people when you drag them thru the mud because your mind is full of that hatred..i dont even feel sorry for people like you, it shows how pathetic people get. there is therapy. i TOLERATED as much crap from you for months..your the one that needs to grow up

Look if I wanted your opinion I would not be on Eds blog to get it, I would go to free republic, storm front or American stinker or Fox news or any other right wing nut site and get your opinion from the people who gave the opinion to you.

You are the intruder here, you don't like the Ed show you don't like Ed and you don't like Ed shows topics, so why are you here. Rather simple like a child you want to disrupt grownups talking with your childish paranoid fantasies. Pretty much like a child you believe your opinion is the only opinion that matters because all of your friends share your opinion which is what children do they share opinions based on their beliefs of their world without understanding how complex the world is around them.

Oh boy the American Stinker what else is sully going to try to pass off as a reliable source, Storm Front. I mean really sully no wonder you are so afraid you listen to fear mongers, racists and bigots.

Nah sully believes the Ed show blog was set up for him even though he doesn't watch Ed's show, he doesn't like Ed and he doesn't like the Blogs topics, because he believes he gets to make his own topics. There is a medical term for sullys behavior, headupbuttitis.

Whine righty whine you are still wrong here is a clue your daddy and mommy beat you for lying now you support a liar guess its true you can't beat a dishonest person into becoming an honest person. Well gee guess all those billions going into the prison system to punish wrong doers is a waste of money as we can clearly see a dishonest lying piece of crap like robme doesn't get locked up for his criminal acts the GOP rewards them by electing them as political candidates.