Hypocrisy thy name is Republicans

Commentary By Ron Beasley

If the Republicans have one bit of policy consistency it's hypocrisy.

In reversal, GOP balks at war funding

 House Republicans are preparing to vote en bloc against the $106 billion war-spending bill, a position once unthinkable for the party that characterized the money as support for the troops.

For years, Republicans portrayed the bills funding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as matters of national security and accused Democrats who voted against them of voting against the troops.

In 2005, Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) went so far as to say sending troops into battle and not paying for it would be an �immoral thing to do.� And just last year, more House Republicans voted for the war supplemental bill than did Democrats, who opposed the legislation because it did little to wind down the military effort in Iraq.

But Republicans say this year is different. Democrats have included a $5 billion increase for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help aid nations affected by the global financial crisis. Republicans say that is reason enough to vote against the entire $106 billion spending bill and are certain voters will understand.

The Democrats had better not do what we did!

A spokesman for House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) noted the Republican support for the version that did not include the IMF funding and accused Democrats of politicizing the issue by including non-war-funding provisions.

�It is the Democratic leadership that is playing politics with our troops by insisting on using them as leverage to pass over $100 billion in global bailout money for the IMF,� said Michael Steel, Boehner�s spokesman.

However, Republicans also have used the supplemental war bills to advance non-related priorities. In 2006, Republican senators included $4 billion for farm programs and $700 million for a railroad project on the hurricane-battered Gulf Coast.

Republicans also embraced the war supplemental in 2007 � advanced by the Democratic-controlled Congress � that included an increase in the minimum wage.

And the Democrats are ready:

�Anytime there was a Democrat [who] raised concern on some of these supplementals, he was tarred as being anti-troop,� said a House Democratic leadership aide.

The Democratic aide charged House Republicans with �hypocrisy� for opposing a bill because of the IMF funding, which amounts to less than 5 percent of the proposed spending in the legislation.

�It seems like they�re putting the interest of the Republican Party and the ability for them to develop a campaign narrative ahead of the interest of the troops,� he said.

All that said I applaud them.  We need to get out of Iran and Afghanistan and not giving money to the IMF is a really good idea too.