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A poll done for an anti-war legislator found that 70 percent of registered voters think President Bush’s $200 billion Iraq war supplemental spending request should be rejected or conditioned on redeployment. “The president wants to pretend that Congress’s only choice is to provide the funds he has requested unconditionally or ‘cut off funding for our troops,’ ” Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) said at a press conference on Wednesday, the fifth anniversary of the House vote to authorize the use of force in Iraq. “That’s just not true. We can use our constitutionally mandated appropriations power to end his failed policy, to protect our troops and to bring them home. We have the power to fully fund redeployment, and that is what we must do.” Lee, who was joined at the press conference by several other war opponents in Congress, used her leadership political action committee to pay for a poll of 1,000 adults, including 796 registered voters. It found that, among all adults, 22 percent supported the president’s request without conditions, 24 percent supported voting against the funding, and 46 percent supported providing funding only for redeployment. Eight percent responded “don’t know.” Among registered voters the numbers were similar — 23 percent supported funding the president’s request without conditions, 22 percent supported voting against the funds, and 47 percent supported providing funds only for redeployment. The poll was conducted by Lake Research Partners and administered by Caravan from Sept. 20 to Sept. 23 as part of an omnibus telephone survey. The margin of error for the full sample of adults is +/- 3.1% and +/- 3.5% among registered voters. Respondents were asked the following question: “President Bush wants Congress to approve a $200 billion request to continue funding the Iraq war and keep the troops in Iraq. Should Congress: vote against the $200 billion funding request; vote for the $200 billion funding request without conditions; or vote for the $200 billion funding request, but specify that it can be used ONLY to protect U.S. troops and contractors and bring them home, rather than to continue the war?” |
