So, I wonder if the anti-war left (like those who tried to arrest Sen. Patty Murray) will be pleased that the Democrats are providing health care for poor children on the back of funding the war. Will the one offset the other?
And of course they plan to offset this new spending because they did promise to balance the budget:House Democrats plan to pick a fresh fight with the White House with an unannounced plan to add billions of dollars in spending for their domestic priorities to President Bush's $99.6 billion emergency war spending bill.
The programs being eyed by Democratic leaders, including $700 million for health care for poor children, could boost Bush's war proposal by 10 percent or more, sources in both parties said.
The White House wants Congress to stick with what Bush requested -- money for ongoing military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, repair and replacement of damaged equipment and an increase in the size of the nation's deployable military force.
But Democrats plan to follow the same strategy Bush has used for years to get his priorities funded: packaging appropriations for key projects separately from the overall budget and tying them to money for troops in the field.
Democratic leaders also see this emerging strategy as a way to encourage their liberal members to vote for the supplemental budget bill, rather than risk the party being portrayed as anti-military, and to remind the president that Congress is an equal branch of government.
Democrats said they would pay for the new funding priorities with cuts or revenue enhancements elsewhere, but would give no specifics.Yeah, we believe them.
