November 16, 2007

No End In Sight For Partisan Gridlock Over Iraq

The Senate this morning defeated both Republican and Democratic attempts to consider supplemental funding for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, CongressDaily reports (subscription). The Republican motion to invoke cloture on a $70 billion bill without restrictions failed 45-53, while the Democratic cloture motion on the House-passed $50 billion bridge fund with restrictions, including a plan to withdraw troops from Iraq, failed 53-45.

CongressDailyPM (subscription) has more on this story.

The Democrats' continued inability to pass legislation forcing a change in President Bush's war policies one year after their victory in the 2006 midterm elections may be frustrating to lawmakers and voters who had high hopes for the Democratic majority. But two new surveys show that the troop surge instituted last winter and Gen. David Petraeus' testimony earlier this fall have done little to change the country's deep partisan divides over the war.

National Journal's latest survey [PDF] of congressional insiders shows Republican lawmakers nearly united in their belief that the "outlook for a stable, democratic Iraq" has improved over the past year, while a majority of Democrats said it has either deteriorated or remained static. Meanwhile, a new FOX News/Opinion Dynamics poll shows an American public similarly divided along party lines on whether the surge has had an impact. See today's Poll Track (subscription) for more on these polls, plus the latest numbers from the White House race.

DOD photo by Cpl. Shane S. Keller, U.S. Marine Corps

Posted at 3:10 PM
Posted to: Congress, Iraq, Senate
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