From Deseret News archives:
House rejects bills to fund wars
GOP, Demos combine to kill $163B measures
The unlikely coalition formed when Republicans expected to provide the winning margin for the Iraq and Afghanistan funding instead sat out the vote in protest.
The GOP revolt was a response to Democratic strong-arm tactics in advancing the must-pass measure, as well as their efforts to add money for the unemployed and an expansion of GI education benefits.
The defeat of the Iraq funding measure came on a 149-141 tally. Nearly two-thirds of the House's Democrats voted against continuing to fund the war as 132 Republicans sat out the vote in protest.
Democrats then forced through a nonbinding plan seeking an exit from Iraq by December of next year. The 224-196 vote on the measure broke mostly along party lines.
Thirty-two Republicans joined Democrats on a 256-166 vote to sharply boost education benefits for Iraq-Afghanistan veterans under the GI Bill despite an accompanying tax surcharge on the wealthy and small businesses and voted to provide a 13-week extension of unemployment benefits.
The White House weighed in again Thursday with a promise to veto the bill over the non-war spending, the new tax surcharge and restrictions on Bush's ability to conduct the war in Iraq.
Republicans said the strategy by Democrats to load the war funding measure with non-war provisions like extending unemployment benefits unnecessarily delays getting funding to troops in the field.
But some Senate Republicans didn't get the message.
Conservatives Larry Craig, R-Idaho, and Richard Shelby, R-Ala., sent out numerous news releases crowing about domestic add-ons such as $450 million to combat Western wildfires and $75 million to help commercial fishermen in a substantially more expensive Senate companion measure that cleared the Appropriations panel Thursday.
In the House, each side accused the other of using the must-pass troop funding bill for political advantage.
"We're playing political games on the backs of our troops you know it," said Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio. "All this bill's going to do is delay the process for weeks and weeks and weeks while we play political games."
Recent comments
Larry Craig complained about Democrats putting domestic add-ons to...
Very concerned | May 16, 2008 at 11:02 a.m.
- Palin signs books, chats with fans 1:20 p.m.
- Stocks turn mixed 1:17 p.m.
- 17 urine samples stolen in Logan 1:16 p.m.
- Fantasy playoffs are here! 1:02 p.m.
- Doctor calls Mitchell 'naive,' 'inept' 1:02 p.m.
- Bluffdale police issue to be decided 12:46 p.m.
- Atom smasher catches 1st collisions 12:25 p.m.
- 5 Americans detained in Pakistan 12:18 p.m.
- Man defends self with scraper 12:11 p.m.
- Panel passes BCS playoff bill 12:08 p.m.
- Hot Rod behind mic for Lakers
- Snow brings big chill
- Cougars use depth to beat ASU
- Non-BCS schools not given fair shot
- Max Hall wants to look ahead
- Expert calls Mitchell delusional
- Panel passes BCS playoff bill
- Five players miss Jazz practice
- Andersen apologizes for Jordan hoax
- Jazz go up against 'the best'
- Y. profs: Beck not all-knowing
283 - Letters: Global warming a lie
222 - TCU to play Boise in Fiesta Bowl
206 - BYU football: Bronco weighs in on Hall
175 - Cougars going back to Vegas
150 - Utah/BYU rivalry can be more civil
144 - Andersen apologizes for Jordan hoax
125 - George lost in rivalry hatefest
120 - Ed Smart 'appalled' at testimony
100 - Revive full food tax?
97
This is important and an injustice to the hundreds of college football...
Count me as one vote against Bolerjack (I've disliked him since the previous...
I bet the BCS forms a lobby and we see the issue completely forgotten.
17 seems to be a pretty small number of people to question.
I do hope they get a good scan and make it available to the public for perusal.
"The POINT wasn't the visibility factor the LEFT seems fixated on." They...
...the NBA season start?
yea, and i bet that chemicals are at the bottom of the 911 catastrophe too....
Kyler Gunther, former Ute player during the Meyer era broke the story and he...
You are correct, except that if we do away with collegiate sports we will no...


