Opposition to the open-ended U.S. occupation of Iraq has reached an all-time high, according to the CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll released today. Support has dropped to 31 percent and the 68 percent who oppose the occupation is a new record.

Other recent polls:

• CBS News: 70 percent disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling the situation with Iraq
• Pew Research Center: 59 percent say U.S. military effort in Iraq not going well
• ABC News/Washington Post: 58 percent think the war with Iraq was not worth fighting
• ABC News/Washington Post: 70 percent want to cut funding for Iraq

What is our Congress doing? They are preparing another blank check for Bush, according to Roll Call.

Let’s ask the question: does the Democratic Party leadership want to stop this pointless and counterproductive occupation of Iraq, or keep it going for another year so they can use it as a political issue?

UPDATE: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi offers $50 billion to keep the Iraq occupation going. Bush only asked for $46 billion, as a down payment on the $196 billion he wants for FY 2008. The bill would set the requirement that troop withdrawals begin immediately (already happening post-”surge”) and that troops spend as much time at home as they do in combat (already true for Marines, Army ready to implement soon). It also sets a “goal” that combat end by December 2008, although the occupation may continue indefinitely. “This is not a blank check for the president,” says Pelosi (it just looks exactly like one).

UPDATE: Danger Room’s Noah Shachtman wants to know why opposition to the war is going up when casualties are going down. Best answer so far: “Casualties never go down. They add up. Same for war cost.”

UPDATE: Not news, but let’s recall who said the following:

“Victory means exit strategy, and it’s important for the president to explain to us what the exit strategy is.”

“I think it’s also important for the president to lay out a timetable as to how long they will be involved and when they will be withdrawn.”