Fascinating Polling from Iowa

Folks,

I’m pretty dismayed by Senator Durbin’s treachery. He recently gave a speech where he expressed his opposition to more blank checks to the Bush administration for the occupation of Iraq. As you can see in “The Nation” article below, he, Harry Reid, and every Democratic Senator who was present for the vote (save for Russ Feingold, bless him!)have voted yet another blank check.

Funding Bush’s occupation of Iraq is killing and dismembering our troops, Dick Durbin is enabling the Casualty Creation Machine, and he’s lying about it, too.

I’m a member of Military Families Speak Out (a non-partisan
organization), and I have a son deployed to Iraq. I urge anyone who seriously wants our troops out of the Iraq hellhole to contact Dick Durbin and tell him to authorize no new funds except those for safe, orderly re-deployment in earnest and without further delay.

Also tell him you expect he, Harry Reid, and their colleagues to use their individual votes, leadership positions, Senate know-how, and creative use of the power of the purse, to bring about this re-deployment, no excuses accepted.

Capitol switchboard: 800 828-0498 800 614-2803
Durbin’s Springfield office 217 492-4062

John Nichols
Fri Sep 28, 10:48 AM ET

The Nation — The Senate agreed on Thursday to increase the federal debt limit by $850 billion — from $8.965 trillion to $9.815 trillion — and then proceeded to approve a stop-gap spending billthat gives the Bush White House at least $9 billion in new funding for its war in Iraq.

Additionally, the administration has been given emergency authority to tap further into a $70 billion “bridge fund” to provide new infusions of money for the occupation while the Congress works on appropriations bills for the Department of Defense and other agencies.

Translation: Under the guise of a stop-gap spending bill that is simply supposed to keep the government running until a long-delayed appropriations process is completed — probably in November — the Congress has just approved a massive increase in war funding.

The move was backed by every senator who cast a vote, save one.

Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold, the maverick Democrat who has ledthe fight to end the war and bring U.S. troops home from Iraq, was on the losing end of the 94-1 vote. (The five senators who did not vote, all presidential candidates who are more involved in campaigning than governing, were Democrats Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and Joe Biden and Republicans John McCain and Sam Brownback.)

Said Feingold, “I am disappointed that we are about to begin the 2008 fiscal year without having enacted any of the appropriations bills for that year. I am even more disappointed that we voted on a continuing resolution that provides tens of billions of dollars to continue the misguided war in Iraq but does not include any language
to bring that war to a close. We need to keep the federal government operating and make sure our brave troops get all the equipment and supplies they need, but we should not be giving the President a blank check to continue a war that is hurting our national security.”

In the House, the continuing resolution passed by a vote of 404 to 14, with 14 other members not voting.

The “no” votes in the House, all cast by anti-war members, came from one Republican, Ron Paul of Texas, and 13 Democrats: Oregon’s Earl Blumenauer, Missouri’s William Clay, Minnesota’s Keith Ellison, California’s Bob Filner, Massachusetts’ Barney Frank, New York’s Maurice Hinchey, Ohio’s Dennis Kucinich, Washington’s Jim McDermott,
New Jersey’s Donald Payne, California’s Barbara Lee, Maxine Waters, Diane Watson and Lynn Woolsey.

That means that, of the 2008 presidential candidates, only
Republican Paul and Democrat Kucinich voted against giving the Bush administration a dramatic — if not particularly well publicized — infusion of new money for the war.

“Each year this war is getting more and more costly — both in the amount of money spent and in the number of lives lost. Now this Congress is providing more funds so the administration can continue down a path of destruction and chaos,” said Kucinich, who noted the essential role of House and Senate Democratic leaders, such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, in passing the continuing resolution. “The Democratic leadership in
Congress needs to take a stand against this President and say they will not give him any more money. That is the only way to end this war and bring our troops home.”

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