Diogenes would be out of luck at the White House, but still might find a few of what he's looking for in the Senate

I have always seen Lugar as a decent, honest, straight-shooting public servant. Too bad he seems to be a dying breed. Explains his apparent disgust with the current administration, though. We'll probably never know, but my bet is that Lugar won't be able to stomach pulling the lever for Dubya next year.

Sen. Lugar Says White House Hiding Iraq Costs
Sat July 26, 2003 08:17 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration should publicly acknowledge that Iraqi rebuilding efforts will cost American taxpayers tens of billions of dollars over the next few years, a key Senate Republican said in a radio interview on Saturday.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar of Indiana said on National Public Radio that the White House understands there is a big price tag for rebuilding Iraq. "But they do not wish to discuss that," Lugar said.

Asked by NPR whether rebuilding Iraq will cost tens of billions of dollars, Lugar responded, "Yes. We are talking about that. And that's what needs to be talked about now as opposed to one surprise after another" in funding requests to Congress.