Dems may try to add conditions to war funding

The House Democrats are discussing to make a deal to add conditions and money to a war-funding bill avoiding the special objections that president George W. Bush made. They are considering a measure tying war funding to a timeline for the troop withdrawals. Some democratic leadership aides said, “This proposal would add a timeline to the Iraq as a condition for funding”. It would also add some money for democrats domestic priorities like unemployment assistance, a GI bill that will fund education benefits for the military veterans and a package of tax credits in to use or for renewable sources. Most democratic sources say that the $178 billion measure would include $108 billion that president Bush asked for the military in the year 2008 and $70 billion to cover all of the war costs in Iraq and Afghanistan in early 2009. One of these aides noticed the details in flux, saying leaders are going to meet to talk about “what can get 60 votes in the senate and what the president will not veto. We want to avoid any appearance that we are poking this up”. Another democratic aide said that the house could pass a bill with a timeline and funding for other domestic things. During a news conference, the president said that he would not accept a bill larger that $108 billion which was what the pentagon had requested. A vote on the house floor could come in as nearly as a week.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/04/29/congress.war.funding/index.html