Finally

By Slab

Democratic congressional leaders are backing down on their demands for a withdrawal timeline.

Flinching in the face of a veto threat, Democratic congressional leaders neared agreement with the Bush administration Tuesday on legislation to pay for the Iraq war without setting a timeline for troop withdrawal.

Senator Reid wants to make clear that there is a limit to their concessions:

Despite the concession, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., told reporters that the legislation would be the first war-funding bill sent to Bush since the U.S. invasion of Iraq "where he won't get a blank check."
Reid and other Democrats pointed to a provision that would set standards for the Iraqi government in developing a more democratic society. U.S. reconstruction aid would be conditioned on progress toward meeting the goals, but Bush would have authority to order the money to be spent regardless of how the government in Baghdad performed.

Sounds like a bit of a Pyrrhic victory for the Democratic leadership in Congress. I try to avoid identifying myself along party lines; however, in this case, I believe the Democratic leadership simply made themselves look bad without accomplishing anything meaningful. President Bush will get the funding that he needs, without any new checks on his authority worthy of mention, and Congress simply looks like they were witholding funds from the troops downrange.

May 22, 2007 11:56 AM The Long War

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Comments

yeah...still though, I applaud the Democrats move here. I was getting very, very nervous...

John · May 22, 2007 12:30 PM

You play the hand you are dealt. The Dems do not have as strong a hand as they think they do....particulary since Sen Johnson is in no position to vote any time soon.........

Bottom line was they did not have the votes to override a VETO.

What really suprises me is how many of the party's so called "base" do not understand that.

I actually think this is a good thing, because now they can fund the troops and still rake the adminstration over the coals about why they do not put the costs of the war in the annual apporpriations bill . Especially since Bush is determined to keep the military in Iraq forever.

Skippy-san · May 23, 2007 05:32 AM