Last night's House vote on the war supplemental bill will frustrate some progressives. Broken into two amendments, the first focused on the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, which Congress agreed to fund to the tune of nearly $162 billion through the first part of FY 2009. The second half of the bill dealt with domestic spending and progressive House leaders were forced to make some concessions on that front as well. Members of the Blue Dog coalition forced Democratic leaders to offset the cost of increased veterans' benefits but balked at an actual proposal to do so -- a tax increase on individuals with incomes above $500,000 a year or couples making over $1 million -- leaving unresolved the question of how those education benefits will be funded. And while Dems pushed through a 13-week extension of unemployment benefits, they were forced to retain a requirement that beneficiaries work at least 20 weeks to be eligible for benefits, thanks to dishonest arguments put forth by GOP opponents.
But not all was lost. As part of the second amendment, $400 million was devoted to science research, potentially staving off at least some layoffs at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and Argonne National Lavorator in Batavia, IL. Rep. Bill Foster was a major supporter of the measure and said he has received assurances from the White House that it will not be vetoed by Bush:
"The scientific community was hit hard by the funding cuts that were included in the omnibus bill last year," Foster said in a statement. "As a result, scientific research in general and Fermi in particular have suffered tremendously."
Post new comment