Leading democrats voted today to cut off funds for troops in Iraq.
-Including presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama.
Add this vote to the many, many stances on the War in Iraq by Senator Clinton (D-NY):
Knowing the legislation would never pass, the vote today was political in nature.
Senators Clinton and Obama voted against funding troops in battle after a set March 2008 deadline.
The AP reported:
The Senate on Wednesday rejected legislation that would cut off money for combat operations in Iraq after March 31, 2008.
The proposal lost 29-67 on a procedural vote, falling 41 votes short of the necessary votes to advance.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, a Democratic presidential front-runner, previously opposed setting a deadline on the war. But she said she agreed to back the measure “because we, as a united party, must work together with clarity of purpose and mission to begin bringing our troops home and end this war.”
Sen. Barack Obama, another leading 2008 prospect, said he would prefer a plan that offers more flexibility but wanted “to send a strong statement to the Iraqi government, the president and my Republican colleagues that it’s long past time to change course.”
Those voting to defund the troops in Iraq were all democrats including:
Akaka (D-HI)
Biden (D-DE)
Boxer (D-CA)
Byrd (D-WV)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Cardin (D-MD)
Clinton (D-NY)
Dodd (D-CT)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Harkin (D-IA)
Inouye (D-HI)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Kerry (D-MA)
Klobuchar (D-MN)
Kohl (D-WI)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murray (D-WA)
Obama (D-IL)
Reid (D-NV)
Sanders (I-VT)
Schumer (D-NY)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Whitehouse (D-RI)
Wyden (D-OR)
The democratic presidential candidates are in bold.
** A Second Hand Conjecture believes the withdrawal plans by democrats are racist in nature- Via Pajamas Media.
Former New York Mayor Democrat Ed Koch is holding democrats responsible for the the results following the loss and retreat- via Lucianne.
UPDATE: More from the Republican office:
“The President’s request for funding for the troops came up 100 days ago: 30 votes, 100 days, no money so far.”
– Sen. Mitch McConnell, May 16, 2007 (press conference)
Troops are not receiving the armor and equipment they need: According to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, “the funding delay negatively impacts our forces in the field by needlessly delaying the accelerated fielding of new force protection capabilities such as the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle and counter-IED technologies developed and acquired by the Joint IED Defeat Organization (JIEDDO). Finally, the ongoing delay resulted in the depletion of funds necessary to accelerate the training of Iraqi security forces.”
Democrats are being blamed for not providing funding to our troops: When asked who is more responsible for the troops not having funding, 44 percent blamed congressional Democrats, while 34 percent blamed President Bush. [CNN/Opinion Research Poll, May 4-6, 2007]
Approval of the Democrat-led Congress is down to only 29 percent: The Democratic Congress has dropped from its 37 percent approval rating in February. Congress doesn’t even receive the support of a majority of Democrats, with only 37 percent approval among members of its own party.
The Democrat’s legislative agenda has stalled: According to the Washington Post, “Not a single priority on the Democrats’ agenda has been enacted, and some in the party are growing nervous that the ‘do nothing’ tag they slapped on Republicans last year could come back to haunt them.”
