House passes war funding bill

It took almost all of the full political might of the White House, the Speaker, and the House Majority Leader to get it through, but the roughly $106 Billion appropriations bill that continues funding for the wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan narrowly passed the house after being rejected outright last onth.

In a surprising turn of events, and also one that shows the difference of the political climate in Washington, was that it was the Republicans and liberal Democrats who voted together almost unanimously to reject the bill. The Republicans were voting against a $5 Billion supplement included in the bill that injects credit for impoverished nations into the International Monetary Fund. Although there were still 30 Democratic defections, it was down from 51 last month when the bill failed to pass, mostly because a provision was left out this time that easily passed the Senate, one that doesn't allow photographs of abused detainees to be released to the public; a contentious issue in the more left-leaning house.

In years past, bills like this were often the bane of Democrats, as Republicans would slip controversial projects into these bills at the behest of the White House and dare Democrats to vote against them, knowing they would be politically tarred for voting "against the troops." Five Years ago George Bush slammed his presidential opponent John Kerry for casting a no vote on a war supplemental, and although Kerry had been a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War, Bush's accusations of Kerry being a hollow liberal with no love for his fellow soldiers all but sealed his doom.

More than any other vote that has hit the floor of this congress, this war bill proves that economic issues and populist sentiment over government spending and bailouts trumps the once dominant themes of homeland security and funding for American soldiers, something unthinkable even two years ago. Republicans, in a radical, albeit politically sensible shift, are banking that the backlash over the $5 Billion IMF funding will create a wedge for them in the 2010 midterm elections next year and are also hoping that no voter would actually think rank and file Republicans are weak on defense.

One thing the Democrats have up their sleeves in this bill, however, that may come back to haunt the GOP, is the Swine Flu vaccine funding that was also included in the bill to be used for next years flu season, which shows that a "no" vote on a war bill still carries political consequences, no matter what party is in charge of congress.