Goddammit, it pisses me off that the press crucified Kerry for that line. I know it's his poor choice of words, etc, but jesus. Virtually every republican senator voted against the $87B before voting for it, and Bush threatened to veto it before he promised to sign it.
Every time the $87B comes up in conversation I ask, "why were there two votes?" Then I stand back and watch as the light bulb switches on. It works every time.
I wish Kerry would address this straight on. I want him to point out the obvious facts above, and drive it home. President Bush threatened to veto body armor for our troops if our richest citizens were asked to pay for it. President Bush threatened to veto troop funding unless the costs to support today's servicemen and women were paid by their own children, with interest. The republican congress, of course, dropped behind him in lockstep, and voted against the troops.
If bringing a country to war is anything, it is about shared sacrifice. LexisNexis would say for sure, but I would bet the words "shared sacrifice" have never crossed Bush's lips since he decided to invade Iraq. We all know what Bush thinks of foreign nations. Bush is a xenophobe, but the real foreigner in Bush's world is the idea of shared sacrifice.
This president is willing to ask our brave young working men and women die for his personal crusade, but unwilling to ask the richest few on the richest country of the planet to cut back on their canapes to help.