Mitch McConnell gives a speech. McConnell wants to fund Afghan surge

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) – who was against the stimulus in the first place – has come up with a Republican-endorsed way to spend the untapped balance of that money: funding the surge in Afghanistan.

“We know the stimulus failed,” McConnell said Tuesday. “It was sold to the Congress and to the American people with the suggestion that it would hold unemployment below eight percent. We know unemployment is over 10 percent. We’re looking for a way to fund several years of the war. I would suggest unexpended stimulus funds would be a good place to start.”


Although unlikely, McConnell comments are part of a larger argument in Washington about how to pay for the Obama administration’s plans to increase troops in Afghanistan. House Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D-Wisc.) said he wanted to institute a surtax to pay for the war. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) said they do not support that measure. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said those questions are “way ahead of what’s necessary at this stage.”

But it sets the stage for a fight in Congress. Democrats have made fiscal responsibility a centerpiece in the fight for health care reform. Now, the party is divided if, and how, it should pay for an increase in troops in Afghanistan.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services committee, said he would freeze discretionary spending in appropriations bills – much of it in earmarks. McCain suggested a freeze on that type or spending at last year’s level – something that would save approximately $60 billion, he said.

“I would look forward eagerly to going through the appropriations those items which are far, far less important than funding our efforts in Afghanistan,” McCain said.