Dems pounce on House Republicans over war funding

Democrats are wasting little time dumping on Republicans over Walter Alarkon’s story in The Hill on House Republican opposition the $106 billion war-spending bill – a position that the GOP would have sharply criticized a short time ago.

Many Republicans are opposing the supplemental because $5 billion in the bill that would go to the International Monetary Fund, money that they say would amount to a “global bailout.”

That position has sent Democratic oppo research teams into a tizzy seeking to call out Republicans for hypocrisy over previous statements on the importance of war funding. And they have found some juicy nuggets. In particular, Dem targets Mike Castle (R-Del.) and Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) signed a 2007 letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) that stated the following:

“Our soldiers are risking their lives and it is vital that we provide them with the tools and equipment they have requested. It is our duty to ensure our military has the resources it deems necessary to protect our brave soldiers serving in harm’s way and to assure our troops – from general officers down to the privates fresh out of boot camp – that we will continue to support them…When it comes to emergency funding for our soldiers, we can not afford to waste precious time arguing over political proposals.”

[UPDATE: Perennial Dem targets Jim Gerlach (R-Pa.) and Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) also signed that letter.]

They are also pointing to this press release from Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.) just last month:

“Every single day our troops put their life on the line for our freedom. We owe them a lifetime of gratitude. We must give our military every resource it needs. Terrorists have declared war not just on the United States, but on anyone who does not share their radical religious doctrine. This money will be wisely used to fight the war on terror. When our mission is complete we can then begin the process of a gradual withdrawal of our troops from Iraq.”

jeremy.jacobs@digital-stage.thehill.com