Sens. Ben Nelson (D-NE), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Evan Bayh (D-IN) are calling for war spending language that would shift some reconstruction costs to Iraqis. Their proposal would convert U.S. reconstruction funds from grants to loans. Citing Iraq's budget surplus and the U.S.'s deficit, Nelson said that Iraq must take fiscal responsibility for its reconstruction. With Iraq's projected budget surplus estimated at $60 billion and the United States grappling with an ever-growing debt and spiraling deficits, we must look for solutions to end Iraq's cycle of dependence on American taxpayers. Iraq must take more responsibility for its own future by shouldering more of the costs for reconstruction and security. The era of the Administration's blank check policy for Iraq must come to an end. This is departure from Secretary of State Colin Powell's dictum that the U.S.'s invasion of Iraq entails ownership of the outcome. It will be interesting to see if the Nelson-Collins approach creeps into other aspects of Iraq spending. Is it conceivable that the Pentagon could/would bill Iraq's established, but highly-factional government for the use of our military? Image used under a Creative Commons license by Flickr user show and tell.