"William W Johnstone - Ashes 33 - Enemy in the Ashes (txt)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Johnstone William W)

Claire fixed him with a steely glare. "How could things be worse, Wally?
We may have won the war, but now you assholes sit here and tell me we're
dead broke."

She stared at the other ministers in the room. "Hell, what good is it to
win the war if we aren't left with enough money in the treasury to run
the country?"

Clifford Ainsworth, Minister of Propaganda, nodded his head. "It's true
that the treasury is at very low levels, Claire, but we weren't in good
shape even before the invasion by El Farrar's men. I'm afraid if we
don't do something soon, the people are not going to stand for more
restrictions in governmental services."

"Cliff's right," Gerald Boykin, Minister of Defense, agreed. "My troops
haven't received a paycheck in over a month. I don't know how much
longer we'll be able to keep the soldiers in uniform if we don't come up
with some way to pay them what we owe them."

Claire turned back to Cox. "I thought the United Nations had agreed to a
loan package, Wally. Won't that help to bail us out until we can get the
economy moving again?"

"It'll help some, Claire, but with half the country on welfare, the
money they've promised us won't last six months."

"What the hell's wrong with everybody?" Claire asked, rolling her eyes.
"Doesn't anyone want to work anymore?"

Ainsworth smirked. "Why should they, Claire, when welfare pays them more
for sitting home on their butts than they can make with a job?"

9

Claire stared hard at Ainsworth for a moment, and then she slammed her
hand down on her desk. "Damn it, I'm tired of being told there's no
money in the treasury and the government has to cut back while these
layabouts are living off the government's tit. Cliff, I want you to
announce immediately that due to the current emergency, all welfare
checks will be cut by twenty percent."

Ainsworth's eyes opened wide. "But, Claire, that'll cause riots in the
streets."

She smiled grimly. "Good, then stopping them will give Boykin's troops
something to do to earn their paychecks."

She got to her feet and leaned forward, her hands on her desk. "Now, get
out of here and find me some way to get more money into our