Congress casts wary eye on Obama's Afghanistan buildup

[laststeamtrain]

Source: McClatchy Newspapers

Congress casts wary eye on Obama's Afghanistan buildup

By William Douglas and David Lightman, McClatchy Newspapers 1 hr 12 mins ago

WASHINGTON — A wary, divided Congress raised serious questions Tuesday about President Barack Obama's new strategy for the war in Afghanistan , as well as its timetables and his plans to pay for the troop buildup.

Obama's biggest challenge will be his fellow Democrats, who control 60 of the Senate's 100 seats and 258 of the 435 seats in the House of Representatives . Worried about retaining their majority in next November's elections at a time when polls show the public turning against them and the war in Afghanistan , they are by no means ready to throw their support behind Obama's plan to escalate the U.S. war effort.

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Sen. Russ Feingold , D- Wis. , said he intended to pursue all options to block funding for the escalation. Rep. Barbara Lee , D- Calif. , the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus , said she was looking for more co-sponsors for her bill to prohibit taxpayer funds from being spent to send more combat troops to Afghanistan .

Said liberal Sen. Bernard Sanders , a Vermont independent: "My view is, in the middle of a severe recession, with 17 percent of our people unemployed or underemployed, with one-quarter of the kids in this country living on food stamps, I am not sympathetic to spending $100 million a year on Afghanistan , plus what we're spending in Iraq ."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20091201/wl_mcclatchy/3368578

[LakeSamish706]

1. I hope Feingold is sucessful in blocking the funding.... n/t

[polichick]

2. Me too. nt