Democrats Rediscover The Power Of The Purse

Looking past the nonbinding resolutions, antiwar Democrats are planning their next steps toward stopping the Iraq war.

The plan is to use the budget process that begins this week to make the administration pay for the war through regular appropriations and not through supplemental spending requests-later add-ons that the Democrats view as a blank check.

One Democratic strategist says this will force the administration to "come up with real numbers on what the war is going to cost and allow for real debate" on whether it's worth the expense.

By Kenneth T. Walsh