Trading National Security for pork

Last week in the Congressional offices, I heard Sheila Jackson-Lee tell members of the IVAW that she wanted to be their soldier in Washington. At the time, I asked who will soldier for the troops who are still engaged. That afternoon, Jackson-Lee and her colleagues went across the street and proved that they weren’t going to be the soldiers for our forces engaged overseas by voting down funding for the war.

Today I learn, from the Associated Press that the Senate won’t be their soldiers either;

Despite numerous veto threats, senators in both parties have loaded up President Bush’s war funding bill with a grab bag of domestic programs, including work permits for immigrant farm labor and heating subsidies for the poor.

The Senate was scheduled to begin debate on the measure Tuesday, just days after a key panel added more about $28 billion to Bush’s budget request for this year and next, with almost $50 billion more for a big expansion of veterans benefits under the GI Bill over 2010-2018.

The new GI Bill and Democratic priorities like extending unemployment benefits are simply the big-ticket add-ons, both of which have drawn veto threats. There’s also $50 million to track down child predators, $400 million to help rural schools and $350 million fight western wildfires, just for starters.

Senators are acting as if the war funding bill coming to the floor Tuesday is the last train leaving the station, and, as a result, have added billions of dollars for pet programs and hitched on several policy “riders” as well. Few if any other spending bills are likely to come before the Senate this election year, which makes the supplemental measure an even more attractive vehicle for carrying spending proposals that would stall otherwise.

So, here we are, coming up on Memorial Day when we’re supposed to honoring the people who died in this nation’s wars, and Congress is playing cheap and petty political games with the funding of those who are still living by funding, to the tune of $75 billion, useless social programs that have nothing to do with our national security.

I guess it’s a lot easier to soldier-up when you’re surrounded by cowards.

Category: Politics, Terror War