The Latest Iraq Supplemental Bill--Who Voted For It?

[ludwigb]

37 Democratic Senators, that's who. They approved 100 billion dollars for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, with no deadlines for withdrawal. 100 Billion dollars that we don't even have approved for an obscene war--the bill for which will be paid by our children.

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/110/senate/1/votes/181/

According to the Washington Post, this bill includes 18 “benchmarks that the Iraqi government must meet to continue receiving reconstruction aid.” One hundred billion dollars in funding is slated to support continuing military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The bill says that the President and Congress must not take any action that will endanger the troops and that they provide any funds necessary for training, equipment and other types of support to ensure their safety and the effectiveness of their missions. The president is required to give a first report on the Iraqis' progress in meeting the benchmarks to Congress on July 15.

Seventeen billion dollars in the package is for domestic spending. Out of this funding, $6.4 billion is for Gulf Coast hurricane relief efforts, $3 billion in emergency aid for farmers, $1 billion to upgrade port and mass transit security, $3 billion towards converting closing U.S. military bases to other uses, and $650 million to increase funding for children’s health care. A Congressional Research Service summary states that the “other domestic beneficiaries include state HIV grant programs, mine safety research, youth violence prevention activities, and pandemic flu protection.”


How can Democrats claim to deserve votes after this catastrophe? And I ask this question as someone anti-Nader to the core. Few hate the narcissism of those who claim no differences between Dems and Reps more than me. But this sell-out goes beyond the old divisions--its speaks to a larger rot in the culture of the Democratic party.

We need to remember the names and hold them accountable. Here are the names of those who voted against that 100 billion.


Barbara Boxer, Hillary Clinton, Christopher Dodd, Russell Feingold, Edward Kennedy, John Kerry, Patrick Leahy, Barack Obama, Sheldon Whitehouse, Ron Wyden, Bernie Sanders.


And those who voted for that 100 billion

Daniel Akaka, Max Baucus, Evan Bayh, Joseph Biden, Jeff Bingaman, Sherrod Brown, Robert Byrd, Maria Cantwell, Ben Cardin, Thomas Carper, Bob Casey, Kent Conrad, Byron Dorgan, Dick Durbin, Dianne Feinstein, Tom Harkin, Daniel Inouye, Amy Klobuchar, Herb Kohl, Mary Landrieu, Frank Lautenberg, Carl Levin, Blanche Lincoln, Claire McCaskill, Robert Menéndez, Barbara Mikulski, Patty Murray, Ben Nelson, Bill Nelson, Mark Pryor, Jack Reed, Harry Reid, Jay Rockefeller, Kenneth Salazar, Debbie Stabenow, Jon Tester, Jim Webb


How can the likes of Jim Webb stand and say he is doing what he can to end the Iraq War after this betrayal?

Once conclusion seems clear enough. The Democratic Party will not save us. Nothing short of a mass social movement may be necessary to get us out of Iraq. Just supporting Obama or Clinton is not going to do it.

[onenote]

1. Jim Webb is doing exactly you would expect based on his campaign

If you paid attention during the campaign, Webb made it clear that he thought the war was a mistake; he also made clear that he thought that disengaging "precipitously" would also be a mistake. He supports a timetable for withdrawing and redeploying troops. His vote for funding (or viewed from a different perspective, his position against not providing funding) was consistent with the position he took when he ran and almost certainly consistent with the views of the great majority of his constituents in a state that has a lot of military personnel.

[ludwigb]

2. Point Taken

Maybe Webb is shielded from hypocrisy charges. But what about Dick Durbin (for example)? How can he vote to fund something he has already said is a mistake?

I can't see all this as mere mass political corruption. I think it's more about the process by which decisions are reached in Washington, and the people to which these Senators feel accountable.