They're delaying the war funding but they are allowing the military to transfer funds :
Democrats are poised to delay money for the Iraq war by several weeks, giving them time to calculate their next move and see if Republican support for President Bush's policies deteriorate.(via)The funding delay would likely cause only a minor disruption for the Defense Department. But it will escalate an already heated standoff between the Democratic-controlled Congress and Bush, who says at least 130,000 troops are needed in Iraq through next summer.
"Just because this administration wears blinders, we cannot afford the limitations of their shortsighted world view," said Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., a Vietnam veteran and prominent war critic.
[...]In February, Bush requested $147 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in budget year 2008, which begins Oct. 1. As early as this week, Bush is expected to ask for another $40 billion to $50 billion.
Murtha, who chairs the House committee that oversees military spending, estimated Congress is likely to ignore the request until November.
In the meantime, Congress is expected to approve the Pentagon's nearly half trillion annual budget, which omits war spending. That money covers routine costs, including training, payrolls and weapons procurement.
Under that bill, the military is expected to be granted the authority to transfer money between accounts, potentially keeping the war afloat for several more months.
Murtha and other Democrats say final passage of the annual spending bill — anticipated by early October — curbs the urgency of the separate war spending bill. It also lends breathing space to a party divided on what to do next.
Why delay at all? Why not just give the military what it needs to get the job done?
