Supplemental war spending seen passing

Republicans and Democrats both expect the president’s $81.9 billion emergency-spending request for the war in Iraq to pass mostly intact, though many Democrats plan to vote for it despite serious misgivings.

“The administration has been extraordinarily wrong in its estimates of the cost of this effort,” said House Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer, Maryland Democrat. “But having said that, it is necessary, in my opinion, to fund the effort that we are about to ensure, to the extent we can, our success.”

Voting against supplemental spending bills has been a political problem for Democrats in the past, including their presidential nominee in 2004, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts.

Mr. Kerry, talking about his vote on the 2003 supplemental-spending request for the war in Iraq, famously stumbled during the campaign by noting before an audience that he “actually voted for the $87 billion, before I voted against it.”

This time around, Mr. Kerry intends to vote for the bill, according to spokesman David Wade.

But in a statement, Mr. Kerry also said he intends to fight to include in the bill the parts of his Military Family Bill of Rights that he proposed during the campaign.

“It’s time for a debate about what it really means to support the troops, in actions not just words,” the senator said.

He and other Democrats argued that the costs should have been reflected in the budget President Bush submitted last week, rather than in the separate spending request sent to Congress on Monday, because the administration is trying to hide the long-term cost of the war, they say.

“We want to put the pieces together so we can see what the next few years are going to look like,” said Rep. John M. Spratt Jr. of South Carolina, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee.

He released a report yesterday calculating that, based on spending so far, the total cost of the war will be between $305 billion and $448 billion, depending on whether troops come home by 2008 or stay longer than that.

Mr. Spratt, who voted to authorize going to war, said he will vote for the spending request. But he also said that with a quarter of each year’s defense spending coming in supplemental requests, Mr. Bush will makes it harder to achieve his goal of cutting the deficit in half by 2009.

Some Democrats were particularly upset at Mr. Bush’s budget proposal to cut 150 domestic spending programs when stacked up against the money the Defense Department will get from the supplemental request.

“The Bush administration is asking Americans to sacrifice their health, the education of their children, and the police protection that we need to keep our streets safe,” said Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, Maryland Democrat.

Other Democrats said they expect to make an issue over money included for aid to the Palestinians and for the $1.4 billion included to build and secure a new embassy in Baghdad.

Republicans said they expect to take a close look at the specifics when they return from a recess for the George Washington’s Birthday holiday next week.

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