Very Slim Majority Votes To Surrender
A slim majority of the US House of Representatives, sniffing after $20-plus billion in fresh steaming chunks of raw pork, have voted to pass a bill that will be vetoed by the President. Two - exactly two - Republicans joined in the surrender-fest.
13 Democrats refused the poisoned bait.
The 218-208 vote came as the top U.S. commander in Iraq told lawmakers the country remained gripped by violence but was showing some signs of improvement.
Passage puts the bill on track to clear Congress by week's end and arrive on the president's desk in coming days as the first binding congressional challenge to Bush's handling of the conflict now in its fifth year.
"Our troops are mired in a civil war with no clear enemy and no clear strategy for success," said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.
Republicans promised to stand squarely behind the president in rejecting what they called a "surrender date" handed to the enemy.
"Al-Qaida will view this as the day the House of Representatives threw in the towel," said Rep. Jerry Lewis of California, ranking Republican on the House Appropriations Committee.
The $124.2 billion bill would fund the war, among other things, but demand troop withdrawals begin on Oct. 1 or sooner if the Iraqi government does not meet certain benchmarks. The bill sets a nonbinding goal of completing the troop pull out by April 1, 2008, allowing for forces conducting certain noncombat missions, such as attacking terrorist networks or training Iraqi forces, to remain.
Two Republicans — Reps. Wayne Gilchrest of Maryland and Walter Jones of North Carolina — joined 216 Democrats in passing the bill. Voting no were 195 Republicans and 13 Democrats.
So, the Congressional "leaders" of the majority party have their show victory. And the bill will be vetoed. And then they will quietly pass the real spending bill they really intended to pass all along. The pundits will fume, the left will screech and the bottom line will emerge: The Democrats do not have the guts to cut the funds for the troops in the field. Because it would be the end of them as a political party. But that will not stop the Reid-Pelosi regime from trying to lose the war for the nation. Not the other party. The nation. Political parties do not win or lose wars. Nations win or lose wars.
Other Links to this Post
-
Pirate’s Cove » Blog Archive » Trackback Thursday Featuring The Surrender Monkey: Pull Out, Baby! — Thursday, 26 April , 2007 @ 6:23 am
-
House Votes in Favor of Withdrawal from Iraq « Michael P.F. van der Galiën — Thursday, 26 April , 2007 @ 7:32 am
By Hurricane Shirley, Thursday, 26 April , 2007 @ 12:33 pm
The article you linked to reports Senators McCain and Graham as “missing from the vote.”