Washington
(May 8, 2008)
House Democratic leaders’ heavy-handed attempt to force our men and women in uniform to carry billions in unrelated Washington spending on their backs has run into strong opposition from an unlikely source:
House Democrats themselves. Democratic leaders scrambled late yesterday after it became clear that the moderate “Blue Dog” Democratic coalition was openly revolting over a leadership-authored troop funding bill loaded with billions in unrelated Washington spending and language that would order our troops to surrender to their enemies.
The Blue Dog rebellion focuses on the fact that Democratic leaders are breaking their promise on the House pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) rule, which requires all new spending to be offset with either cuts to spending elsewhere or a tax hike. The Associated Press reports on the brewing protest against Speaker Pelosi:
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“House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., promised to deal with the concerns of some of her more conservative members, who were upset that the war funding bill is carrying new benefit programs – especially a boost in GI education benefits – without paying for them with offsetting cuts to other programs.”
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This is not the first time the Democratic leadership has conveniently ignored PAYGO, but this time, it seems the Blue Dogs aren’t about to take it anymore. Roll Call reports this morning on their insurrection:
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“[House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi’s biggest problem Wednesday seemed to be the pressure she faced from within her own party, with some Blue Dog Democrats vowing to oppose the rule for the supplemental because they are upset that the bill fails to pay for the $51.8 billion increase in veterans’ education benefits over 10 years.”
“‘I would not under any circumstances vote for a piece of legislation or a rule that violates’ pay-as-you-go rules, said Rep. Allen Boyd (D-Fla.), a co-chairman of the Blue Dog Coalition. ‘This is a violation of PAYGO. It’s a violation of House rules.’”
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Democratic leaders have taken heat this week for their plans to bring the bloated bill to the House floor without even allowing the Appropriations Committee – which is charged with writing all spending bills – to weigh-in on the measure. So this latest mutiny only complicates problems for the Majority, which is desperately trying to hold troop funding hostage as leverage for billions in new Washington spending. The Hill explains this morning that the Blue Dogs’ outrage may eventually imperil the Democratic leaders’ crafty – and outrageous – strategy of jamming billions in unrelated spending into a troop funding bill:
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“‘Some of us oppose creating a new entitlement program in an emergency spending bill, whether it’s butchers, bakers or candlestick-makers,’ said Rep. John Tanner (D-Tenn.), a founding member of the Blue Dog Coalition who serves on the House leadership team as a deputy whip…”
“With the relatively thin Democratic majority, it takes only 15 Democratic defections to bring down the rule.”
“Asked if there were more than 15 members willing to oppose the rule because of the GI Bill of Rights, Tanner said, ‘That’s not an unreasonable assumption.’”
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Our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq deserve our full support as they fight our enemies. Unfortunately, Speaker Pelosi and her colleagues in the Democratic leadership can’t bring themselves to give them the funding they need without first breaking the House rules and then piling billions in unrelated Washington spending on their backs for good measure. Republicans have long opposed this cynical ploy, and now, it seems like the Blue Dogs have had enough as well. When will the Democratic leadership finally do the right thing and give our troops all the resources they need – without playing partisan political games?
