Are the Dems (finally) drawing a Line in the sand over Iraq funding?

John Amato, Crooks and Liars: David Obey and John Murtha had strong words for the GOP over their stonewalling the funds for the troops in Iraq. No withdraw date, no cash–plain & simple.

Obey: The Bush Administration is promoting a lot of stories over the past week about nasty actions in the Pentagon that will have to be taken if Congress doesn’t provide a bridge fund for the Iraqi war. Like so many other things in this town, those stories have things backwards. The House has already passed a $50 billion bridge fund which will provide all of the funding necessary for Iraq through at least February and beyond. But the President’s allies in the Senate are preventing it from even reaching his desk because they don’t like the conditions under which the money is provided. Let me repeat: the money has already been provided by the House of representatives. If the President wants that $50 billion released, all he has to do is call the Senate Republican Leader, Mitch McConnell, and ask him to stop blocking it. That phone number is (202) 224-2541, in case anyone is interested.

Huff Po: “As reported by the Huffington Post, the Democrat war supplement proposal is the party’s most aggressive funding measure since taking over Congress. In addition to insisting on a full withdrawal plan the bill would also require that troops be fully trained and equipped before being sent into the field and that the government abide by the Army Field Manual with respect to prohibiting torture.”

As Pelosi says: “Democrats and the American people support our troops in the field and will always insist they receive all the resources they require. If there is any delay in funding for our men and women in uniform, the responsibility will squarely lie with the President and Senate Republicans who are blocking the bill.”

Murtha: I thought we’d gotten rid of Secretary Rumsfeld, but this really worries me that there would be such a political document. … This is a political document. They’re scaring people. They’re scaring the families of the troops with this document. That’s the thing that’s so despicable about what they’re doing.

LSB: Why do the Republicans hate our troops?