This morning on Meet The Press, Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden walks in lockstep with right-wing talking points on Iraq funding. When asked by host Tim Russert if he would vote to cut off funding for Iraq if President Bush refuses to accept a withdrawal date, Biden moves directly to the "cutting off funding means you don't support the troops" mentality pulled straight from the pages of the RNC playbook. Instead of speaking the truth, that it means appropriating funds to begin a safe and smart withdrawal from the country, not abandoning out troops, Biden instead says he won't vote to cut off funding and chooses to chastise Democrats who support it.

It's infuriating to say the least to see Biden falling for the White House framing-- not one single Democrat in Congress wants to leave our soldiers stranded in the middle of the desert with no food, water, ammo or protection--and cutting off Bush's funding would not do that--and Senator Biden should know better.

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Biden's big push in this interview is sending MRAPS (which should have been the vehicle of choice from the beginning) to the troops. The problem is, he's willing to betray the American people and cave to President Bush and his minority party in order to get them. This mentality is what has led to our prolonged presence in Iraq, the fatally flawed surge strategy and the deaths of hundreds of U.S. troops and countless Iraqi citizens. Senator Biden, you can put all the protective equipment into the spending bill you want, but you then must stand firm with the troops and the American people and fight for a timetable to get them out of harm's way and bring them home.