Most Americans disagree with President Bush’s decision last week to veto the war funding bill that contained a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq. In the new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll released Tuesday, 57 percent want Congress to pass another bill with funding and timetables. The poll surveyed 1,028 American adults between Friday and Sunday. It has a sampling error of 3 percentage points.
What do they think Congress should do now? Former Sen. John Edwards said Congress shouldn’t back down. “If we don’t have the votes to override the veto, the Congress should send him another bill with the funding authority for the troops, with a timetable for withdrawal,” the Democratic presidential candidate said. Democratic leaders have said they won’t cut off support for the troops, and the majority of the public agrees they should not, according to the CNN poll. Sixty percent of those polled oppose a measure that would provide no additional funds for the troops and require them to withdraw by next March.
Republicans accuse Democrats with failing to support U.S. troops. “The troops desperately need the funds,” Rep. Adam Putnam, Republican Conference chairman, said. “The political games that are being played by the Democratic leadership are jeopardizing the reinforcements that they so desperately need to succeed in that country.”
“We intend to fund the troops, as Speaker Pelosi and I have said,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said. “Our troops are in harm’s way. We will not leave them defenseless or unsupported.” Democratic Senators Hillary Clinton and Robert Byrd want Congress to revoke the authority it gave President Bush in 2002 to invade Iraq and require him to seek new authority to continue the war. “I believe a full reconsideration of the terms and conditions of that authorization is overdue,” Clinton said.
The public trusts Congress more than President Bush to set policy in Iraq. Congress is thought to be more committed to ending the war. But with trust comes responsibility. When asked who is more responsible for U.S. troops not yet receiving additional funds, 44 percent say the Democrats in Congress, while 34 percent say President Bush.
I know the political battles will never end, but they just seem so extreme this past year that it makes you wonder how if we can’t agree on anything, can we get things done.