The President's Budget Ploy: Force the Dems to Choose Whether to Fund the War

Democrats in Congress should be careful what they wish for. They’ve been complaining for years that Bush has financed his war with supplemental appropriations that never make it into budget documents so the public never knows – and the media doesn’t focus on – the war’s real cost.

The President has sent to Congress a budget that makes it crystal clear. He wants $365 billion – over and above the defense appropriation – to pay for the war in Iraq and Afghanistan over the next three years.

With one fell swoop the President has put Democrats between Iraq and a hard place. He’s found a way to get them to own this war – forcing them to choose whether to continue to finance it (and stop complaining about it) or cut off funding. He’s put it all in the budget.

Of course, budget documents coming from the White House can be – and are routinely – ignored by Congress. But they also allow a president to frame policy debates. You can bet that this President, and his congressional allies, will use this $365 figure to frame the debate over support for moving forward with this war.

So, Democrats, what do you do now?