Two days after Congressman Jerry McNerney voted against giving President Bush another blank check to wage the war in Iraq, Jerry's Blog is buzzing with 157 comments and counting from supporters and non-supporters alike.
Meanwhile, MSNBC's Tom Curry highlighted four House Democrats on Friday who voted for and against the Iraq supplemental funding bill on Thursday.
Among them, Congressman McNerney had more to say on why issuing Bush a blank check on the war was "not acceptable":
Freshman Jerry McNerney of California's 11th District, who represents a district that President Bush carried by nine points in 2004, is a 'no' vote.
"The president has said basically, 'give me everything I want and nothing I don't want and I'll sign the bill.' That's not acceptable to me or to a lot of people and that's not why I was elected," McNerney said in an interview a few hours before Thursday night's funding vote. "We need to bring accountability to the war, end the war, and re-deploy the troops. I don't think we should give the president a free hand."
Will Republicans say in next year's campaign "McNerney refused to fund the troops"?
He replied, "They'll say whatever they can say that works. We'll see. I don't know. We'll get funds for the troops; we're not going to abandon the troops. That isn't what this is about."
Does that mean he'll vote 'no' partly because he knows the bill will pass anyway?
"I don't know if it will pass or not. I'm voting to end the war. The president vetoed our spending plan and he cut off the finds for the troops when he did that," McNerney replied.
Comments