thedrifter
01-22-07, 01:54 PM
Webb would cut off funds to rebuild Iraq
By Kathy Kiely - USA Today
Posted : Monday Jan 22, 2007 9:46:33 EST
The Democratic senator who will deliver his party’s formal response to President Bush’s State of the Union address Tuesday said he favors cutting off funding for Iraq reconstruction in order to pay for Hurricane Katrina recovery instead.
“How can we keep sending billions of dollars over to Iraq and not fund a really energetic effort to help places like New Orleans?” Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., asked in an interview Friday. Webb said that Iraq and what he sees as the precarious state of the nation’s economy and infrastructure are two of the topics he’ll tackle in his speech.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., chose Webb, an iconoclastic freshman, to deliver the prime-time rebuttal to the president. Reid said Webb personifies the “spirit of bipartisanship,” and the call for “a new direction for working families and an end to the war in Iraq.”
He also highlights the Democrats’ effort to move beyond their traditional political base. A senator for less than a month, Webb is a combat veteran who says, “I can still justify the war in Vietnam.” His eldest son and namesake is a Marine stationed in Iraq.
Webb is a former Republican who won election in a state Bush carried by nine percentage points in 2004. This marks the second year in a row that a Democrat from Virginia will deliver the State of the Union response. Last year, the honor went to Gov. Tim Kaine.
A pugnacious former boxer, Webb made headlines by rebuffing Bush’s attempt to ask about Webb’s son at a White House reception with a call to bring the troops home from Iraq. The White House wouldn’t comment, but Webb confirmed the incident.
“I didn’t start it,” said Webb, who said he harbors no hard feelings. “I wouldn’t mind having lunch with George W. Bush.”
Webb, who has written novels, screenplays and magazine articles, said that he’s working with Reid about the general themes of his speech but that he has “enough independence” to say it his way.
“I’m really careful with words,” Webb said.
In his speech, which the senator said he’s trying to keep to about five minutes, he plans to address:
* Iraq and national security. Webb, who called the administration’s decision to invade Iraq “reckless,” said he won’t support cutting funds for the military effort, but he wants Congress to create pressure for a diplomatic solution. “There will never be political stability in Iraq as long as there are American combat troops on the streets of Iraq,” he said. “We need to get them out.”
* Economics and globalization. Webb said he believes that the “internationalization of corporate America” is widening the gap between rich and poor.
* Government accountability. Webb said he will discuss ethics reform and efforts to expand congressional oversight of the executive branch.
Webb served as secretary of the Navy during the Reagan administration.
Ellie
By Kathy Kiely - USA Today
Posted : Monday Jan 22, 2007 9:46:33 EST
The Democratic senator who will deliver his party’s formal response to President Bush’s State of the Union address Tuesday said he favors cutting off funding for Iraq reconstruction in order to pay for Hurricane Katrina recovery instead.
“How can we keep sending billions of dollars over to Iraq and not fund a really energetic effort to help places like New Orleans?” Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., asked in an interview Friday. Webb said that Iraq and what he sees as the precarious state of the nation’s economy and infrastructure are two of the topics he’ll tackle in his speech.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., chose Webb, an iconoclastic freshman, to deliver the prime-time rebuttal to the president. Reid said Webb personifies the “spirit of bipartisanship,” and the call for “a new direction for working families and an end to the war in Iraq.”
He also highlights the Democrats’ effort to move beyond their traditional political base. A senator for less than a month, Webb is a combat veteran who says, “I can still justify the war in Vietnam.” His eldest son and namesake is a Marine stationed in Iraq.
Webb is a former Republican who won election in a state Bush carried by nine percentage points in 2004. This marks the second year in a row that a Democrat from Virginia will deliver the State of the Union response. Last year, the honor went to Gov. Tim Kaine.
A pugnacious former boxer, Webb made headlines by rebuffing Bush’s attempt to ask about Webb’s son at a White House reception with a call to bring the troops home from Iraq. The White House wouldn’t comment, but Webb confirmed the incident.
“I didn’t start it,” said Webb, who said he harbors no hard feelings. “I wouldn’t mind having lunch with George W. Bush.”
Webb, who has written novels, screenplays and magazine articles, said that he’s working with Reid about the general themes of his speech but that he has “enough independence” to say it his way.
“I’m really careful with words,” Webb said.
In his speech, which the senator said he’s trying to keep to about five minutes, he plans to address:
* Iraq and national security. Webb, who called the administration’s decision to invade Iraq “reckless,” said he won’t support cutting funds for the military effort, but he wants Congress to create pressure for a diplomatic solution. “There will never be political stability in Iraq as long as there are American combat troops on the streets of Iraq,” he said. “We need to get them out.”
* Economics and globalization. Webb said he believes that the “internationalization of corporate America” is widening the gap between rich and poor.
* Government accountability. Webb said he will discuss ethics reform and efforts to expand congressional oversight of the executive branch.
Webb served as secretary of the Navy during the Reagan administration.
Ellie