A vote is expected in the U.S. Senate today on a measure that seeks to tie the faltering national economy with the expensive war in Iraq. It demands a pullout of U.S. troops begin within 120 days, coinciding with a cutoff of war funding. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley predicts the bill will fail, and he’ll be part of the reason why.

Grassley says: "Obviously, I’m going to vote against it. We send the American troops over there to do a job and I’m not going to pull the rug out from under them. It’s ludicrous to think that the economy today is a result of what’s going on in Iraq." Grassley, a Republican, says you can’t blame the soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan for doing their jobs and they’re certainly not to blame for the economic situation.

"It’s a result of irresponsible lending through sub-prime loans and irresponsible brokers," Grassley says. Democrats say the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are costing between ten and 12-billion dollars a month. Grassley says the measure going to a vote today is being backed by the same group of anti-war Democrats who have continued slowing down the work of the Senate with this sort of partisan legislation.

Grassley says: "Another thing that you need to realize when these votes come up, what’s their purpose? Is it an election year and they need some propaganda for the election? We’ve already voted on this same amendment and bill four times and four times it was defeated." By July, military officials say 140,000 U.S. troops should be deployed in Iraq. That’s about 80,000 more soldiers than were there when the so-called "surge" was ordered last year.