Another probe of American consensus, taken by CBS News last week, shows that the war in Iraq is the most important problem facing the country today by a wide margin. Of those surveyed, 24 percent considered the Iraq war the most important problem facing the nation today, while the economy and jobs followed distantly with 13 percent. About a month earlier, an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll asking what should be the top priority for the federal government returned the same top two, but with markedly less separation. Twenty-one percent of Americans chose the war in Iraq, compared to 19 percent who believed the focus should be the economy.
The Pentagon is counting on Congress to navigate a legislative tightrope and pass a party-line bill to fund nearly a quarter of its $1.5 trillion budget request for fiscal 2027, including billions of dollars for top priorities like Golden Dome, the F-35, munitions, and unmanned systems. Experts and lawmakers from…