John Kerry and the money to fund the troops in Iraq

I had linked to this column that appeared on NRO that took John Kerry to task for voting against providing the funding for the troops in Iraq (how can you say you support the troops and then vote against the money for the troops?). Mike N. emailed that I was missing the other side of the story. Mike sent me a link to Josh Marshall's Talking Points Memo that discussed there being two bills for the $87 billion in funding. The first bill was to be funded by rolling back part of the Bush tax cuts (Kerry was supposedly for this). The second bill was the one that was passed and the one Kerry voted against. The second bill was basically funded out of deficit spending (which I agree isn't the best way to fund things).

The problem I have is that Kerry hasn't come out and said something like he wanted to vote for the first bill because it was fiscally responsible and used a "no" vote on the second bill only when he knew the bill would pass. If he used his "no" vote as a protest - why doesn't he just come right out and say so? Is it because it's none of our business just like the supposed foreign leaders who endorsed him in private?

I believe the fact is Kerry voted "no" because that is what the left wing of the Democratic Party wanted at the time and it was a vote that helped him win the nomination (look at what happened to Joe Lieberman who voted FOR the bill). Now Kerry wants to be able to play both sides of the coin in order to court the centrist voters who will decide the election in November - but it won't wash. Voters can see that he's a man with no true convictions and a man who votes based upon the audience he's talking to or according to who he thinks can help him the most. In matters of policy - he's just a gigolo.

I thank Mike N. for mentioning Josh Marshall's site. I have had it bookmarked for a long time and will add it to my blogroll (so that you can get the left's side of things). I will also add John Hawkin's website to the blogroll (so you can get the right's slant on things). Josh's site is more mainstream and Josh is clearly a Washington insider while John's site is honestly more fun. Use both to make up your own minds.