Won’t deny funds to US troops in wartime: Pelosi

After Democratic threats of blocking funds for President Bush’s plans for a troop surge in Iraq...

After Democratic threats of blocking funds for President Bush’s plans for a troop surge in Iraq, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi insisted on Friday that Democrats would never deny funding to US forces in wartime.

“But we will hold the president accountable,” she said. “He has to answer for his war. He has dug a hole so deep he can’t even see the light on this… It’s a historic blunder.”

Pelosi also accused Bush of playing politics with soldiers’ lives, a charge White House called “poisonous.” “The president knows that because the troops are in harm’s way that we won’t cut off the resources,” Pelosi, head of the Democratic-led House, told ABC’s Good Morning America. “That’s why he’s moving so quickly to put them in harm’s way.”

Saying Democrats were waging a “sound-bite war,” White House spokeswoman Dana Perino fired back: “Questioning the president’s motivations and suggesting that he is rushing troops into harm’s way is not appropriate and is unfortunate.”

outside the RJD party office in Patna on Friday. Partners of the alliance filed nomination papers for all 121 seats going to polls in the first phase – the total strength of the Bihar House is 243 – while talks continued to end the deadlock over seats.

Mahagathbandhan parties fail to seal Bihar pact, field own candidates for Phase 1

Political Pulse2 hr ago

Opposition Mahagathbandhan in Bihar failed to announce a seat-sharing pact as nominations closed for the first phase of Assembly elections. Talks are ongoing to end the deadlock over seats, with over a dozen constituencies still in dispute. The alliance has released lists of candidates, with RJD reportedly contesting 130-135 seats and Congress around 60.

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