Bush makes Christmas Eve phone calls to troops from the safety of Camp David, while he picks our pockets. (Reuters)

More budget busting ahead as Chimpy asks us to open our wallets some more for Iraq. (AFP) :

In early February, there will be … a supplemental appropriation in addition to the 2006 budget for defence submitted to Congress,” Jim Kolbe, Republican congressman from Arizona, told reporters.

He estimated the extra funding to range between 75 to 80 billion dollars.

“It would make it the largest supplemental appropriation … a very substantial amount that would cover not only defence but also some of the foreign assistance,” said Kolbe, who travelled to Iraq with four other Congressmen.

Bush will make the new request after he is sworn in for a second term in January.

Kolbe is chairman of the foreign operations subcommittee of the House of Representatives appropriations committee, which is responsible for deciding how money is spent on supporting foreign governments and operations.

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who was also in Iraq visiting troops, promised Friday that the extra funds would be spent on equipment for ground forces stationed in the country in 2005 and 2006.