According to a recent survey of House Democrats by The Hill, there are approximately 11 "no's/leaning no's" and 35 "undecided's/no comments" on the emergency spending bill to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This is important because if just 12 Democrats oppose the bill, it will fail.

 

This stark reality is scaring the Democratic leadership and bringing to the forefront their shrewd attempts to buy votes from members on the fence. Both the Washington Times and Washington Post had featured articles in their papers this morning discussing the lengths to which the Democrats are going to get votes. For example, Rep. John Barrow (D-Ga) and Rep. Jim Marshall (D-GA), both of whom are leaning towards opposing the bill, have had $75 million for peanut storage subsidies targeted at their districts.

 

The actions by the Demoratic leadership on this matter is ludicrous. If they cannot convince Congress of the merits of their "slow bleed" Iraq policy, then they should work on their salesmanship -- not just start handing out cold-hard cash.  This is reckless, irresponsible, and not fair to the taxpayer.

 

To see just how fractured the Democrats are on this bill, check out this report released by the RSC press office.  They have just about everything, but consensus in their ranks.