War funding bill: Walsh votes with Dems; Kuhl, Reynolds with Repubicans
The House just passed a war funding bill “linking $50 billion in funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to a withdrawal date” (via The Hill).  Jim Waslh was one of a handful of Repubicans to vote for the bill, making good on his pledge to vote with Democrats on Iraq bills. Randy Kuhl and Tom Reynolds voted with Republicans, against the bill. Here’s more:
“We all view this as a significant statement, a turning point,†Rep. James McGovern (D-Mass.) said. “This is the beginning of the end of the war in Iraq.â€
Democrats have been weary of denying Bush money to prosecute the war, knowing that Republicans would accuse them of not supporting the troops. Instead Democrats have adopted a new strategy of forcing the Pentagon to resort to creative accounting – shifting funds from one program to another – to fund the war.
The $50 billion spending bill is the Democrats’ first attempt since General David Petreaus’s congressional testimony in early September – and the most aggressive since last spring – to restrict money to pay for the war.
While the bill does not preclude Bush from using the $50 billion to continue the war, Congress wants the money to be used to redeploy soldiers from Iraq.
So Walsh meant what he said, and actually changed his position. It wasn’t just lip service. Mark me down as surprised. This is unusual behavior for members of the “Republic†party.
LOL at “Republic” party.
Now is the time for Jim Walsh to switch parties. He’s one of the biggest proponents of spending federal dollars for public good, and he’s making good on his anti-war promise. I doubt he’s welcome in the Democratic party, but there ain’t much conservative about him, is there?
And I should be clear that I too think he deserves kudos for his principled stand. Cheers, Mr. Walsh.
(Right about now is when someone is going to set us all straight and explain that Walsh’s stance stems from political expediency. That might be the case, but ah well.)
[...] Walsh has run as far towards the center as possible, voting with Democrats on many issues including war funding and SCHIP. Meanwhile, Kuhl has tacked hard to the right on nearly every [...]