Okay, we’ve seen both of our guys in a debate now and they still seem incapable of giving a concise answer to the $87 billion question. I find this especially frustrating because I don’t see this issue as a flip-flop at all. If I were in the debates, this would be my two-minute answer :

MODERATOR : What the hell did you mean when you said you voted for the $87 billion before you voted against it?

KERRY : Let’s put things in perspective here. In the run-up to the war, the Administration repeatedly rejected the notion that the Iraq war would be expensive, they gave us an low-ball estimate, and some were even bold enough to suggest that once we got there, all we’d have to do is turn on the oil wells and the war would start paying for itself.

Then they came back to us and asked for another $78 billion dollars, which I voted for.

After that, the President signed a bill giving huge tax cuts to millionaires. I can’t think of another time in our country’s history when a wartime President was rejecting the idea that the people make sacrifices during war. Then it was revealed that the Administration was giving away billions of dollars in no-bid contracts. There was no way I could sit idly by while the President shamelessly gave away money to his campaign contributors.

So when the Administration came back to the Congress to ask for money for the third time in less than a year, I presented an alternative. My proposal supplied the full $87 billion the President was asking for on two conditions : that they pay for it by partially rolling back their most recent tax cuts for the rich, rather than pass the burden on to our children and that the Congress be given greater oversight into how the money was being spent, so we wouldn’t see billions thrown into the off-shore bank accounts of corporations.

If Vietnam taught us anything, it’s that the best way we can support our troops is to make sure our leaders are responsible and trustworthy. My amendment was an effort to restore that credibility to the President, but it was killed when Bush threatened to veto my funding request. So here’s my question : Why does the President think keeping his millionaire tax cuts and no-bid contracts are more important than funding our troops?

It’s not perfect by any means and it glosses over some stuff, but Kerry has yet to strike back at Bush his own veto threat, put the vote in full prospective, or give himself credit for crafting a more responsible alternative to Bush’s reckless spending. Considering that this issue wasn’t fully addressed during either debate, I’ll bet we’ll see it pop up again on Friday night. Hopefully this time, they won’t fumble the ball.