Some House Democratic leaders are considering plans to quietly fund the Iraq war while trying to minimize the political fall-out.
One of the latest proposals under discussion involves putting $30 billion in a nearly-completed omnibus spending bill that would be earmarked for the war in Afghanistan, but could freely be used for operations in Iraq.
According to Hill sources, Rep. David Obey, D-WI, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, initially pushed the Afghanistan funding idea. Top House Democrats Steny Hoyer (D-MD) is said to support the idea, while Speaker Nancy Pelosi has argued against it. But in an interview on Thursday, she acknowledged that “there probably will be some level of [money] addressing Afghanistan” in the omnibus.
“Democratic leadership is considering this as a way to get the White House off their backs,” said one Hill staffer with knowledge of the legislative proposal. “If the money isn’t required to go only to Afghanistan then the president is going to do with it what he pleases.”
Among Democrats who favor a less confrontational approach with the White House, the idea is highly regarded for several reasons: Democrats will be funding what is perceived within the party as “the good war,” while also preempting White House criticism that the Pentagon is being strapped for cash.
Critics describe it as another capitulation to President Bush, in the face of consistent and strong opposition to the war among the majority of Americans.
The Afghanistan funding proposal is not set in stone, and creative thinking is abound. Democratic lawmakers have thrown around the idea of linking specific funding levels to achievements by the Iraqi government, and of using war funds as leverage to get more money for domestic programs. They’ve even theorized ways of tying Iraq money to the reigning in of war profiteering.
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