Search

About This Blog

Welcome to the Political Machine. Here you can get the latest political news, engage with our bloggers and interact with the most dynamic community on the Internet. Stay tuned for the launch of our latest interactive features. Jump in!

Resources

Email our editors with your tips, corrections, complaints, inquiries, suggestions, etc.

In Surprise Move House GOP Kills War Funding

By Mark Impomeni
May 15th 2008 10:30PM

Filed Under:eHouse, Democrats, Republicans, Breaking News, Iraq

The House of Representatives voted on the latest supplemental war-funding bill requested by the president today. But in a strategic twist, 132 House Republicans voted "present" rather than cast yes or no votes, affectively removing their votes from the total. The result was that the funding portion of the bill was defeated 149-141, on the strength of anti-war Democrats' votes.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and the Democratic leadership had decided on a novel strategy to address the war funding measure. It called for the bill to be split into three parts, one each for war spending, non war-related domestic spending, and anti-war policy provisions. The strategy was supposed to make the supplemental more palatable to the anti-war caucus of Democrats in the House while protecting the moderate Blue Dog caucus, whose members could not afford to vote against funding the troops in this election year. But the Republicans' move thwarted the Democrats' plans, saddling them with the defeat of funding for troops in harm's way. After the vote, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) was triumphant.
"[T]he Democratic Majority has chosen to play political games with our troops and delay their funding by at least several more weeks. This is unacceptable, and House Republicans will not be party to such a cynical political ploy. A troop funding bill should fund the troops. Period. The exercise today on the House floor would instead hijack the troop funding bill and use it as a vehicle for billions upon billions in unrelated Washington spending and a $54 billion tax hike on small businesses. This is reckless, it is dangerous, and it must not stand."


The other parts of the supplemental, a non-binding call for troops to be removed from Iraq by the end of next year, and a $52 billion plan to give veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan four-year scholarships to attend college modeled on the G.I. Bill of the 1940s, passed largely on party line votes. Neither measure garnered enough support to override an expected presidential veto.

Republicans claimed that they had prepared a substitute war-funding bill that contained no anti-war provisions and no additional domestic spending. However, that measure was not allowed to come to the floor under the Democrats' rule for considering the proposal. Republicans said that there was enough bi-partisan support in the House and Senate to pass what they dubbed a "clean bill," and charged that the Democratic leadership was simply engaging in election year maneuvering with their complicated three-part process. Democrats, in turn, said that the Republicans' "present" votes amounted to nothing more than a political stunt. House Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D-WI) said simply, "We won."

The White House has requested $108 billion in funds for the remainder of this fiscal year, which ends on September 30th, and has said that the president will veto any bill that exceeds that funding request. The bill that failed today would have cost $162.5 billion, and likely would have been vetoed anyway, meaning no additional delay was added to the war-funding measure by the Republican strategy. Democrats have debated the handling of this supplemental for weeks, and today's unexpected action by House Republicans clearly put a damper on their plans, despite Chairman Obey's confident assertion of victory. Sooner or later, Democrats will have to vote on funding for the troops, and the Republicans have put them on notice that they will not allow Democrats in the House to use parliamentary tricks to dilute the consequences of their votes. House Democrats would rather vote on the funding as soon as possible to avoid angering their anti-war base right before the election. The Senate will debate the war funding bill next week. Look for quick passage by the Senate and quick concurrence from the House soon after the Memorial Day recess.

Recent Comments

(Page 1 of 2)
New Users

Current Users

Add your comments:

Political Machine Photo Galleries

Candidates' Favorite TV Shows
Democrats Debate in Las Vegas
Laura's Trip to Middle East
Political Sex Scandals
The Not-So Traditional 2008 Candidates
Al Gore's Ups and Downs
Spokespersons!
Candidate Spouses

Politics Video

Reinventing McCain

Reinventing McCain

John McCain looks to regain his mojo. CNN's Jessica Yellin reports. (July 8)
Can McCain balance the budget?

Can McCain balance the budget?

John McCain promises to balance the budget, but how does deficit reduction politics play with voters? (July 8)
McCain vows to balance budget

McCain vows to balance budget

Sen. John McCain tells American Morning that his economic plan will balance the nation's budget by 2013. (July 8)
Turning red states blue

Turning red states blue

Democrat Barack Obama is visiting some traditionally Republican states, hoping to swing their votes his way. (July 8)
McCain and Obama on the attack

McCain and Obama on the attack

Senators McCain and Obama attack each other's tax policies. (July 7)
« See More Politics Video
Register to Vote with Declare Yourself

Declare Yourself is a campaign that encourages young Americans to register and vote.

REGISTER TO VOTE NOW AT:
www.declareyourself.org