Free Republic

The House approved a supplemental spending bill for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan Tuesday in a 226-202 vote. The bill will now move to the Senate, where it is expected to be approved. In addition to about $80 billion to fund wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the bill includes $5 billion in new borrowing for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and $7.7 billion for flu pandemic preparations.

According to House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee Chairman John Murtha (D-Pa.), Democrats do not have the votes to pass the War Supplemental bill to fund the troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.   Democrats have relied on Republican votes to pass previous supplementals because their liberal membership routinely refuses to fund the ongoing conflict. But Republican support was lost when House and Senate Democrats stripped the Graham-Lieberman provision from the bill. Graham-Lieberman would have banned release of Defense Department photos showing alleged abuse of terrorist detainees. Those photos are sought by the ACLU in a current lawsuit. Republicans also oppose the...