United for Peace of Pierce County, WA - We nonviolently oppose the reliance on unilateral military actions rather than cooperative diplomacy.

Democratic leaders in Congress have agreed to a war-funding bill that "drops restrictions on Bush's ability to conduct the war and gives him almost all of the funding he sought well over a year ago for Iraq and Afghanistan," the Associated Press reported Wednesday.[1] -- House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, "would not immediately release details, saying the verbal agreement had yet to be written in congressional legalese." -- The natural disaster in the Midwest facilitated the unholy alliance by "pav[ing] the way for a quick infusion of emergency flood relief for the Midwest," Andrew Taylor reported; the agreement also encompasses "an extension of unemployment payments for the jobless, and a big boost in GI Bill college for veterans." -- Bloomberg News noted that the spending bill would "fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan until President George W. Bush's successor is in office" — until mid-2009.[2] -- White House Budget Director Jim Nussle touted the agreement as "a major victory" and said the bill would "meet the president's priorities" and "live within" his funding request. -- The agreement finalizes the Democratic Party's complete sell-out on Iraq war funding, despite antiwar November 2006 elections that put Democrats in control of both houses of Congress with a mandate to bring the war in Iraq to an end — a situation that UFPPC has characterized as a "crisis of the Republic." ...

WASHINGTON -- Democratic and GOP leaders in the House announced agreement Wednesday on a long-overdue war funding bill they said President Bush would be willing to sign.

The agreement on the war funding bill, announced by Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, also paves the way for a quick infusion of emergency flood relief for the Midwest, an extension of unemployment payments for the jobless, and a big boost in GI Bill college for veterans.

It would also provide about $165 billion to the Pentagon to fund military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan for about a year. That's enough time for Bush's successor to set Iraq policy.

"This is an agreement that has been worked out in a bipartisan way that I think is acceptable to both most Democrats and most Republicans and to the White House," Boehner said.

Jim Manley, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the agreement contains several priorities for Democrats in the Senate but stopped short of issuing a direct endorsement, saying Reid needed to consult with his colleagues.

The agreement would require that the Senate would agree to drop most of the more than $10 billion it added last month for programs such as heating subsidies for the poor, wildfire fighting, road and bridge repair, and help for the Gulf Coast.

The House is slated to pass the measure Thursday, but the Senate won't turn to it until next week, Manley said.

The agreement drops restrictions on Bush's ability to conduct the war and gives him almost all of the funding he sought well over a year ago for Iraq and Afghanistan . But he also backed away from veto threats he issued earlier over Democrats' insistence on using the Iraq funding bill to carry a generous boost in the GI Bill and a 13-week extension of unemployment payments for people whose benefits have run out.

Democrats dropped a provision to extend unemployment benefits for an additional 13 weeks in states with particularly high unemployment rates.

The war funding bill had bedeviled Democratic leaders for months. Its passage has become more urgent with looming furloughs next month of civilian employees and contract workers.

Conservative "Blue Dog" Democrats are upset that the new GI Bill benefits, with costs tentatively estimated at $62 billion over the next decade, will be added to the deficit instead of being "paid for" as called for under House rules.

But the White House and Republicans insisted that House Democrats' offset -- a one-half percentage point surcharge on wealthier taxpayers -- was unacceptable.

Boehner and Hoyer would not immediately release details, saying the verbal agreement had yet to be written in congressional legalese.

The agreement came just a day after the Bush administration urged Congress to provide $1.8 billion in immediate disaster aid for the Midwest and elsewhere. Congress is likely to add a little more, though details had not been ironed out.

A dozen senators in both parties are pressing to add money for levee repair and help for displaced homeowners, among other pressing needs.

Democrats and governors across the country emerged the victors in a battle with the White House to block new Bush administration rules designed to cut spending on Medicaid health care for the poor and disabled.

U.S. HOUSE LEADERS, BUSH AGREE ON $165 BILLION FOR IRAQ WAR
By Nicholas Johnson and James Rowley

Democratic and Republican leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives reached agreement with the Bush administration yesterday on legislation to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan until President George W. Bush's successor is in office.

The measure allocates about $165 billion for the wars, which will fund the conflicts until mid-2009. The compromise also includes an extension of unemployment benefits that Democrats sought and Bush had opposed [and] increased educational funding for returning veterans and emergency spending for states affected by recent flooding.

"This is a major victory," said White House Budget Director Jim Nussle. "It meets the president's priorities" and "lives within" his funding request.

The measure "gets our troops the funding they need," House Republican Leader John Boehner said in a statement.

Congress has been under pressure to produce a bill -- without the troop-withdrawal measures Bush has threatened to veto -- because the Defense Department was beginning to run short of funds for the wars. The agreement also ends a series of confrontations over spending on the conflicts that began when Democrats took control of Congress last year. Since then, Bush has vetoed or Republican senators have blocked Democratic efforts to link funding to demands for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

"What has been going on is the three-cornered discussions between the House, the Senate, and the White House," House Democratic Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters yesterday. "We're hopeful that the Senate will pass it and the president will sign it."

Jim Manley, a spokesman for Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid said "we look forward to reviewing the House's complete proposal, and we will take it up quickly once we receive it."

The House last month rejected a plan to spend about $163 billion for the wars because of objections by Republicans angry about not being given opportunities to amend the legislation.

The House did approve a tax surcharge on individuals earning more than $500,000 per year to pay for expanded veterans' benefits. The new legislation includes the veterans' programs but removes the tax surcharge, which Bush and congressional Republicans opposed.

A war-spending bill approved earlier by the Senate included about $10 billion in additional domestic spending that was opposed by Bush, who had threatened to veto any measure that exceeds his spending request for the wars.

--To contact the reporters on this story: Nicholas Johnston in Washington at njohnston3@bloomberg.net; James Rowley in Washington at jarowley@bloomberg.net