Who Won The Iraq Spending Showdown?

May 24, 2007
Who Won The Iraq Spending Showdown?

Much of the this morning's coverage of the Iraq and Afghanistan war spending
bill focuses on who won and who lost the showdown. Some reports conclude that
Republicans may have won this round even if their victory is not complete and
may be short-lived.

The AP says "Democrats may have lost their fight with President Bush
over a timetable for ending the war in Iraq," but "they won billions of dollars
for farm aid, hurricane victims, veterans and health care for poor children."
President Bush "vetoed a $124 billion war funding bill containing $21 billion
in unrequested funds," but the White House negotiators "signed off on a $120
billion measure containing four-fifths of the additional money." Indeed,
although one reason President Bush cited for his veto of the first Iraq war
spending bill was the inclusion of "extraneous" funds by congressional
Democrats, the compromise he is expected to sign includes billions of dollars
of non-Iraq related funding.