House Approves $106B Bill to Fund Wars in Iraq, Afghanistan

[goodhue]

Source: Washington Post

House Approves $106B Bill to Fund Wars in Iraq, Afghanistan

By Perry Bacon Jr.
The House of Representatives today passed a $106 billion bill funding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through September, as House Democrats backed President Obama despite misgivings among the ranks about his strategy in Afghanistan.

The 226-202 vote came after President Obama and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner called some reluctant Democrats during the day imploring them to back the bill, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) strongly pressed her Democratic colleagues in a closed-door meeting to vote for the bill in a show of support for Obama, even if they oppose his strategy for increasing troops in Afghanistan. In the end, 221 Democrats voted for the bill, while 32 opposed it.

* * *

The vote was complicated because a group of 51 Democrats, most of whom have long pressed for complete withdrawal of U.S. troops in Iraq and reduced presence in Afghanistan, voted against the first version of the war spending bill in May. But most Republicans backed it, easing its passage.

This time around, with only minimal Republican support in the offing, Democrats needed to get more than a dozen of the 51 to back the funding, setting up a battle between the White House and the antiwar left.

* * *

In the end, 19 House Democrats backed the bill who had opposed it the first time, although some cited loyalty, not agreement with Obama's plans, as their reason.

Read more: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/capitol-briefing/2009/06/house_approves_106b_bill_to_fu.html?hpid=topnews

[NightWatcher]

1. second verse, same as the first

[Larry Ogg]

28. The more things change the more they look the same

[avaistheone1]

29. Powerful. Can I have a link to the pictures?

[Larry Ogg]

31. You certainly can

Here’s the website
http://images.google.com/images?q=Obama+Bush+Pictures&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=IGw4Sr6HM8y_tweP6dXiDA&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=1&ct=title

Also if you right click on the image and then properties; where it says location, that’s the link and all you need to do is cut and past it into your own message

[avaistheone1]

32. Thanks Larry. I didn't know one could locate the urls that way.

[CountAllVotes]

2. we must keep our priorities straight

must fund these god damned wars without end forever. Screw the American people! :mad:

:dem: :kick:

[ixion]

3. this makes me ill

really.

:(

[CountAllVotes]

4. so much for "change you can believe in"

:puke: :puke: :puke:

:kick:

[pleah]

5. Loyalty? How about you assholes stand up for what is right instead

of supposed loyalty! God damn it.

I even more pissed because the U.S. Government keeps calling my home trying to get my only child to join the fucking wars for oil.:grr:

[CountAllVotes]

8. right = $$$$$$$$$$$ to these ass wholes

that IS the bottom line.

Note: They can cough up this huge chunk of money while state parks, animal shelters, child care centers, hospitals and schools are being closed.

This shows us exactly what the priorities are to ALL OF THESE DAMNED TREASONOUS PEOPLE!

:kick:

[goodhue]

6. roll call here

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/roll348.xml

[goodhue]

10. the 32 dems who voted nay deserve some thanks

Baldwin
Capuano
Conyers
Doggett
Edwards (MD)
Ellison
Farr
Filner
Grayson
Grijalva
Honda
Kaptur
Kucinich
Lee (CA)
Lofgren, Zoe
Massa
McGovern
Michaud
Payne
Pingree (ME)
Polis (CO)
Serrano
Shea-Porter
Sherman
Speier
Stark
Tierney
Tsongas
Waters
Watson
Welch
Woolsey

[Bushknew]

12. Sigh, I will not be voting for my current congressman any longer.

[avaistheone1]

30. Proud of my Congress person. I will call him tomorrow and tell him so.

[ejpoeta]

7. can someone show me where we have debates on msm about

how we are going to pay for all this??

[harun]

17. LOL, that was a good one.

I think we are all in denial about it so bad that we won't even talk about it. Heck, I haven't even seen LinkTV talking about it.

[lib2DaBone]

9. We can least afford these wars.... I don't understand......

Millions of Americans out of work.. no one talking about bringing jobs home from China....

The only thing I can think of... the PTB don't want to bring a hundred thousand trained combat vets back home and dump them into the job market where no jobs exist.

Pissed off combat vets are a bad thing to have standing around.

[ConcernedCanuk]

11. Without all these eternal USAmerican wars, could the USA afford universal health care?

.
.
.

methinks

YES

[avaistheone1]

27. Amazing. The bill Congress just passed could have funded single-payer health care instead for

a year and a half for every American!!

Don't give up. It just shows us Congress has the money or will create debt when they want to. Now they just need to spend it on something worthwhile like healthcare instead of warfare.

[Baclava]

13. No Blood for Poppies!

C'mon - sing along - you know the words.

[Iowa]

14. I was in renewing my drivers license the other day...

The clerk asked if I wanted to change my voter registration. I changed from Democrat to No Party, and this particular sell-out is only one of many reasons why.

The once great Democratic party is dead and gone. What we have now is a bunch of right-wing corporatists masquerading as Democrats. These sell-outs are simply coasting on the great Democratic brand-name, a brand-name that was earned by the sacrifice of others many years ago. And they cynically use that brand (along with the citizens' fear of the pure evil represented by the other side) to cash in, sell-out, and serve their personal interests at our expense.

It has reached the point where no progressive can, in good conscience, support this party of bad-faith and treachery. I have heard many here declare, with glee, that the Republican party is nearing extinction. What they fail to realize is that it doesn't matter, because the Democratic party has been in training for years to step in and assume the role of the Republican party. And they are ready now. In fact, we have a corporatist President and Congress already installed. Our only hope is the rise of third party candidates.

[frog92969]

24. We're heading for one party rule

Unfortunately it's a center-right party.
This is unacceptable.

[sunwyn]

15. As usual Kucinich voted against the war... he should have been president

[ixion]

16. Yep, he was my pick

welcome to DU! :hi: :toast:

[harun]

19. I wish I would have wrote his name in.

[Freddie Stubbs]

34. If he could not run a competent campaign, what makes you believe he could run the executive branch?

:shrug:

[conspirator]

35. What is "to run a competent campaign"?

Being given lots of money by corporations and rich families and have lots of MSM air time? No Kucinich was not for sale to the highest bidder.

[Freddie Stubbs]

38. He could have raised money from middle-class families

Obama raised lots of money from small donors.

[Solly Mack]

18. Sickening

[slipslidingaway]

20. More at this link...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=5864270&mesg_id=5864270

"...Last month, when a war supplemental spending bill (another $97 billion for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan) was expected to easily pass in the House with bipartisan support, 51 Democrats sought to please their constituents by voting No. Tuesday evening, when the same bill stood a good chance of failing, 20 of those same Congress members voted Yes and one did not vote. But 30 stood by their vote when it actually meant something. They were joined by 2 more, for a total of 32 Democrats voting No.

A coalition of progressive bloggers had been whipping hard to reach the total of 39 and fell short by 7. In fact, we fell short by 12, because the White House persuaded 5 Republicans to oppose their own party and vote Yes....


....We've been phoning Congress nonstop for the past week, but I strongly encourage you to make a few more calls, to thank the heroes and spank the frauds. The arc of justice is long but it only bends if we keep bending it."

[KamaAina]

21. What's the difference between Bush* and Obama?

About $19 billion, it would appear. :grr: :banghead:

[FlyByNight]

22. Regarding all of the Beltway talk of budget this and...

budget that, I hear/see next to nothing about "defense" spending. At least half a trillion dollars are now being spent per year to maintain the empire. The Iraq pullout is too slow and the escalation in the Afghan imperial graveyard may turn out to be Obama's quagmire. How much more blood and treasure has to be wasted needlessly?

[bvar22]

23. It is NOW Official.

The Iraq War/Occupation and the Afghanistan War/Occupation now BELONG to Obama and The Democrats.
They BOUGHT it today.

Call Out for support to:
Baldwin
Capuano
Conyers
Doggett
Edwards (MD)
Ellison
Farr
Filner
Grayson
Grijalva
Honda
Kaptur
Kucinich
Lee (CA)
Lofgren, Zoe
Massa
McGovern
Michaud
Payne
Pingree (ME)
Polis (CO)
Serrano
Shea-Porter
Sherman
Speier
Stark
Tierney
Tsongas
Waters
Watson
Welch
Woolsey

[Mnemosyne]

25. They could not care less for how 'We the People' feel. n/t

[avaistheone1]

26. ..

[mike_c]

33. Obama's war, brought to you by complicit democrats....

This is just sickening.

[Zhade]

36. NOT WHAT I VOTED FOR.

He won't be getting my vote again.

[sarcasmo]

37. Troops home now, and they are worried where the money for Health care will come from.