The AP has a report about the latest War spending bill which now contains $28 Billion of extra pork added by Democratic and Republican Senators alike. So, yeah, that amazing 2006 revolution sure did a lot for us didn’t it?

While the inclusion of “$50 billion more for a big expansion of veterans benefits under the GI Bill over 2010-2018″ is admirable shouldn’t it be a separate issue? Then there is “$14.5 billion to give 13 weeks of unemployment checks to people whose benefits have run out” added by Sen. Diane Feinstein and Larry “wide stance” Craig. Add to that “$1 billion worth of additional energy subsidies for the poor” and Sen. Kay Baily Hutchinson added “$100 million in grants to local law enforcement to fight drug trafficking along the U.S.-Mexico border”.

I am glad to see our representatives are working so hard to support the troops.

From the AP:

Moqtada al-Sadr’s militiamen Tuesday battled troops in four Iraqi cities on Tuesday, including the capital, as the hardline Shiite cleric threatened a countrywide campaign of civil revolt.

Heavy clashes broke out between Sadr’s Mahdi Army fighters in the southern oil city of Basra, killing at least seven people and wounding 48, and in Kut and Hilla, both south of Baghdad, officials said.

As evening fell, Mahdi Army fighters fought with Iraqi and US forces in their Sadr City bastion in eastern Baghdad for the first time since last October, a security official and witnesses told AFP.

Troops had surrounded the sprawling impoverished neighbourhood of two million people and armed Shiite fighters were roaming the streets, a witness said.

The fighting, which severely strains a ceasefire declared by Sadr in late August and renewed last month, prompted the cleric to issue a stern warning that he would launch protests and a nationwide strike if attacks against his movement and “poor people” are not halted.

“We demand that religious and political leaders intervene to stop the attacks on poor people. We call on all Iraqis to launch protests across all the provinces.

“If the government does not respect these demands, the second step will be general civil disobedience in Baghdad and the Iraqi provinces,” Sadr said in a statement read by his representative Hazam al-Aaraji in the holy city of Najaf.

photo credit: nukeit1

While Clinton and Obama were discussing Iraq during the debate last night I looked over at my wife and said “well, McCain is going to hammer one or both of them really hard tomorrow.” Looking at Mark Halperin’s page today, I learned I was right!

Last night Tim Russert asked both candidates what they would do if leaving in Iraq meant allowing al Qaeda to create a refortify and take over the country. Specifically he wanted to know if they would reserve the right to send troops to reinvade Iraq later. Obama said the US would have to return if that occurred.

Today in Tyler, Texas McCain had this to say:

“I have some news,” McCain told voters at a rally here Wednesday morning. “Al-Qaeda is in Iraq. Al-Qaeda is called al-Qaeda in Iraq. My friends, if we left, they wouldn’t be establishing a base…they would be taking a country. I will not allow that to happen my friends. I will not surrender. I will not surrender to al-Qaeda.”

McCain went on to say: “When you examine that statement, it’s pretty remarkable.”

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During an appearance yesterday on Meet the Press Senator Hillary Clinton cited media reports to suggest Senator Obama’s campaign has been distorting statements by herself and her husband to give the impression that they were fueled by racial insensitivity. Clinton demanded that these statements be put into context so they could be shown as attacks against Obama’s comparison between himself, John Kennedy and Martin Luther King as well as his record on the Iraq War and not an attack on his race as some have seen them. Clinton again charged that Senator Obama has not maintained a consistent position on the Iraq war and maintained that it will take a record of achievement in creating and moving forward legislation and not just speeches to create societal and governmental change.

Yesterday Senator Obama responded to these charges. On the charge that his campaign was distorting her comments he said, “I am baffled by that statement by the senator.” He also added:

She made an ill advised statement about Dr. King suggesting that Lyndon Johnson had more to do with the Civil Right Acts. I did not make the statement. I haven’t commented on the statement. For them to suggest that we’re injecting race as a consequence of a statement she made that we haven’t commented on is pretty hard to figure out. Maybe you can tell me and explain to me how we distorted her statement.”

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The Associated Press is reporting there may be a second video of Osama bin Laden on its way, this time reading one of the last will and testaments of a 9/11 hijacker. This is not new as others in al Qaeda have marked the anniversary of those attacks by reading similar statements.

But with Osama specifically mentioning the 2006 elections, democratic politics, taxes and other issues, leftist writer Noam Chomsky and other election results around the world it is hard to imagine he is not attempting to have an influence on events in United States politics. In 2004 a video released helped influence the perception of voters right before the election. What will be in store in 2008? Could there also be an impending attack on American interests either at home or abroad?

Now that we know he is alive I doubt this will be the last we hear from bin Laden.

- Republican Sen. John Warner said today he believes the president should send a message to the Iraq government by polling out a number of troops from Iraq by Christmas.

“We must start an orderly, carefully-planned, thought-out redeployment… in my humble judgment, that will get everybody’s attention.”

The White House said the statement and those like it are “inappropriate” but it is a further example of mounting tension between elected GOP officials and the administration.

Though it is a very big symbol of what is going on it is not necessarily a “major development” as little is likely to come from the statement.

- It is being reported by CNN that a major Republican firm with close ties to the White House is actually working to undermine the administration of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. Barbour Griffith & Rogers is sending out e-mails criticizing al-Maliki to promite a client former interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi as a replacement.

- Yesterday Senator Hillary Clinton called for the ouster of al-Maliki at the displeasure of John Edwards and the Bush administration. Today it is being reported that September’s NIE reportwill criticize the al-Maliki government calling his admin “unable to govern”. The report will reportedly say that the surge has had an impact and will continue to do so if it continues but that violence will continue as will political instability.

- An odd report has come out which states that Iran is distributing leaflets in Kurdish Iraq claiming “The authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran will work on cleansing this area” and that Turkey is working with the nation to plot an attack. The report was denied by Iran and in all honesty the sources seem less than credible.

Reports claim that these leaflets were dropped yesterday by mysterious helicopters in the region. Is this the work of hysteria or propaganda, maybe some kind of psychological warfare? There has been shelling in the region but not clear sign of a larger imminent attack.

“I know the Democrats are getting all ready, they are measuring the drapes and getting the carpet all ready for how they are going to take over the White House, and I think they are going to get a big surprise,” Romney told a crowd gathered at a golf course. “America is not happy with how the war in Iraq is going, and is angry. But America is not about to take a sharp left turn and put somebody in the White House who would turn America into a European-type state.”

I actually think Romney has a point in there, its one I have been making for a bit on here. The country is ready for a “change” in leadership and are looking for alternatives. That doesn’t mean they are ready to start going completely to the left though. If anything I think the country is moving to the center with two extreme and highly organized flanks that will spent the next year annoying the daylights out of them.

Romney on the other hand should take some advice. He is courting the conservatives for the primary, I understand that. At the same time just as Democrats need to think “moderation” so do Republicans.

In my opinion every campaign manager out there should be reciting one single mantra “moderation”.

From The Hill.

Senator John McCain said voting no to the Iraq spending bill was like “surrendering to al Qaeda”.

Meanwhile Mitt Romney said the vote “singularly defines their lack of leadership and serves as a glaring example of an unrealistic and inexperienced worldview on national security that is regrettably shared by too many of their fellow Capitol Hill Democrats.”

Clinton’s explanation for why she voted against the bill were given on her Web site.

Obama’s explanation can be found on his blog.

Sen. Clinton & Obama along with Sen. Dodd voted against an Iraq funding bill which included the first minimum wage hike since President Clinton was in office. Also running for president & voting Sen. Biden & McCain voted for the bill while Sen. Brownback missed the vote.

You can see the list of votes or read the text of the bill.

Clinton & Obama voted against raising the minimum wage to $7.25 which is up $2.10 an hour as well as giving money to continue funding the war in Iraq.

Moderate House Republicans warned the president yesterday afternoon that his policy on Iraq is hurting the GOP according to a report by MSNBC. According to the article they also warned the president he could not count on their support much longer.

I think during the 2006 elections most people assumed the war would look the same as it did through the 2008 elections but signs are showing that the Republican Party is very concerned about the backlash for the next election. IN addition reports have been coming out that some former heavy hitters for the Bush admin & the party are now moving toward the Democratic position and some to the Democratic candidates as well.

Yesterday retired Generals began a campaign to sway the administration from its policy and in addition the Vice President made a surprise trip to Iraq yesterday and warned the government their time might be running out. 2008 will undoubtedly be about security & about Iraq but unlike 2004 the pendulum of support seems like it is swinging in favor of the Democrats.