Senate Approves $165B In War Funds, $51B To Boost Vets Benefits

Bills providing $165 billion to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan – without mandating any troop withdrawals – and $250 billion in domestic spending have been approved by the Senate. The Washington Post reports the legislation faces an uncertain fate in the House, and President Bush has vowed to veto any measure adding domestic spending to his war funding request. The domestic bill includes $51 billion in expanded education benefits for veterans. The expansion is opposed by the White House as both too costly and as a change which could entice some to speed up the date of their departure from the military.

The Spring 2008 Public Agenda Confidence in U.S. Foreign Policy Index shows 64 percent of survey participants gave the government an "A" or a "B" on efforts to make sure we have a strong, well-supplied military. But confidence slides on the subject of Iraq, with 62 percent giving the U.S. a grade of "C" or less in achieving U.S. objectives there, 44 percent saying there's "not much" the U.S. can do to create a democratic Iraq, and 42 percent saying there's not much the U.S. can do to control the violence there. Sixty-five percent favored withdrawal of U.S. troops and 58 percent said America's safety from terrorism does not depend on U.S. success in Iraq.