The House's vote yesterday on emergency funding for the Afghanistan war shows a significant eroding of support for President Obama's war policy -- from members of his own Democratic Party. There were 102 Democrats voting against the $33 billion in war funding. That's more than three times the number of Democrats (32) who voted against a similar funding bill in June 2009. (This year's war funding bill passed, 308-114.)
Among those voting "no" this time: prominent liberals such as Henry Waxman of California and Ed Markey of Massachusetts, and 30 members of the Congressional Black Caucus, including Jesse Jackson Jr. of Illinois and Maxine Waters of California.
Rep. Louise Slaughter's "no" vote should come as no surprise. In December 2009, when President Obama announced his intention to send 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, the New York Democrat was sharply critical.
"The president failed to set out concrete goals and a firm exit strategy. I cannot support this escalation without those guarantees. I am extremely concerned that Afghanistan will rapidly become one more military quagmire that sacrifices American lives and drains our funds," Slaughter said last year.
Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., vice chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, said he voted against war funding this year because it would involve using borrowed money.
"This war, which has run longer than the Revolutionary War, longer than the Civil War, longer than the World Wars or Vietnam, is not a candidate for 'emergency' deficit spending. If Afghanistan is worth fighting for, it must be worth paying for," he said in a statement.
AS USA TODAY's Richard Wolf reported yesterday, one of the "no" votes came from House Appropriations Committee Chairman Dave Obey, the man charged with shaping the measure and bringing it to the floor. Obey, who is retiring this year, said he believes it's a mistake to increase troops in Afghanistan. Like Becerra, Obey says the war has dragged on too long.
