Deadbeats:
 
U.S. Misses Soldier Reimbursement Deadline
 
The Defense Department hasn't developed a plan to reimburse soldiers for equipment they've bought to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan despite requirements in a law passed last year, a senator says.  
 
In a letter sent Wednesday to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., asked details on the Pentagon's progress setting up the reimbursement program and questioned why it was not in place yet.
 
"Very simply, this is either negligence on their part, because they were not happy with this when it passed, or it's incompetence," Dodd said. "It's pretty outrageous when you have all their rhetoric about how much we care about our people in uniform."
 
...Under the law, the Defense Department had until Feb. 25 to develop regulations on the reimbursement, which is limited to $1,100 per item....
 
--AP
 
Hopes for D.C. Inaugural Reimbursement Dim
 
Seven weeks after President Bush's second inauguration, District of Columbia officials are still hoping for reimbursement of the $12 million they spent on security. A Homeland Security official told them Wednesday it may be too late.
 
District officials were told to spend money from regional homeland security grants, which were supposed to be used for other projects, to pay for security for the president and other dignitaries during the swearing-in ceremony and the inaugural parade....
 
D.C. Council member Carol Schwartz said she is not discouraged. She pointed to a history of presidents paying for their own inauguration.
 
"I don't think it's ever too late to get reimbursed for what was a national event," Schwartz said....
 
--AP
 
I bet the young Shrub used to skip out on drink tabs, too.