Democrats Don’t Oppose the War:
They Provide 100 Billion More

Jun 3, 2007

Done playing their little “anti-war” game, the Democrats in Congress gave Bush the money he wanted to continue the war in Iraq.

For months, the Democrats have been dancing a tango with Bush over the issue. Pretended to oppose the war they passed a spending bill with a meaningless time line for troop withdrawal attached to it.

When Bush threatened to veto, the Democratic leadership negotiated a compromise with him agreeing to a spending bill with NO time line attached. To cover their butts, the majority of Democrats voted against the bill, while enough Democrats voted for it so that it could pass the House easily, 280-142. The vote in the Senate was even more lopsided, 80-14. The bill gives Bush 100 billion dollars to continue the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; and he’s already said he’ll want 145 billion more next year.

The Democrats say they couldn’t do anything more, since they lack the votes to override Bush’s veto.

It’s amazing how helpless the Democrats can be–in the face of one man.

The Democrats have the means to end the war now–they just don’t use them. They are the majority in Congress. They could refuse to pass any spending for the war. And if Bush accused them of refusing to support the troops, the Democrats would have a solid argument–supporting the troops means taking away Bush’s ability to pay for the war–forcing him to bring them home. The Democrats could also impeach Bush–for any number of reasons. They could even call people out into the streets to demand an end to the war, tying up the business of government.

They don’t do it? Then they don’t want an end to the war.

If we keep waiting on the Democrats to change things, this electoral farce will continue–and, what’s much worse, so will this bloody war.