We'll Take What We Can Get

At least ONE country won't be making any more weapons of mass destruction. This is the text of an email I got today:
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Thank you! Our efforts have paid off in a big way. This past Saturday, Congress refused to approve funds for a new generation of nuclear weapons. This marks a resounding defeat of the Bush administration on this critical issue.

The fight against the President's nuclear weapons program has been our number one legislative priority since 2002. Thanks to your efforts, the Omnibus Appropriations Bill passed this Saturday was missing key programs requested by the President:

* The administration asked for $27.6 million for the nuclear bunker buster, more formally known as the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator, and received zero funds.

* The administration requested $9 million for what is called the advanced concepts research on new weapons designs, a program that could have funded new, lower yield nuclear weapons designed to be used on the battlefield. It did not get a penny.

* The administration's $29.8 million request for funds for a new facility to build plutonium pits for constructing new nuclear weapons was cut to $7 million, and the Department of Energy was barred from using any funds to select a new construction site.

Despite the 51% mandate claimed by the president on Election Day, we have obviously sent a clear message to Congress that bipartisan and grassroots opposition to nuclear weapons funding is strong.
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Hey, we're not going to win many fights the next couple years, so let's savor the ones we get. Actually, the systematic crumbling of Bush's legislative agenda in this lame duck session of Congress (no vote on intelligence reform, misdeeds thrown out of the Omnibus Bill like snooping on citizens' tax returns) is pretty striking in the wake of the election. However, reinforcements like Jim DeMint and Tom Coburn are on the way to Washington, so we must remain vigilant against the coming far-right agenda.