Cave In
It appears that the Democrats in Congress are ready to cave in and simply fund the war in Iraq. They're painting it up and making it look real pretty, but they're agreeing to supplying war funds - without trying to dictate control over the war - in exchange for domestic spending.
House Democratic leaders could complete work as soon as Monday on a half-trillion-dollar spending package that will include billions of dollars for the war effort in Iraq without the timelines for the withdrawal of combat forces that President Bush has refused to accept, House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) said yesterday.
In a complicated deal over the war funds, Democrats will include about $11 billion more in domestic spending than Bush has requested, emergency drought relief for the Southeast and legislation to address the subprime mortgage crisis, Hoyer told a meeting of the Washington Post editorial board.
If the bargain were to become law, it would be the third time since Democrats took control of Congress that they would have failed to force Bush to change course in Iraq and continued to fund a war that they have repeatedly vowed to end. But it would also be the clearest instance yet of the president bowing to a Democratic demand for more money for domestic priorities, an increase that he had promised to reject.
"The way you pass appropriations bills is you get agreement among all the relevant players, among which the president with his veto pen is a very relevant player," Hoyer said. "Everybody knows he has no intention of signing anything without money for Iraq, unfettered, without constraints. I think that's ultimately going to be the result."
And with that, the entire charade that has been played out in the twisted, surreal kabuki theater that is Washington comes out. The "principled stand" of the Democrats is quite amenable to a pork payoff. The deal is not yet done and, frankly, this story is a trial balloon. House leaders on the Republican side are not happy about this at all. But you can just about bet that Pelosi sent Hoyer out to draw fire on the deal.
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AMERICAN NONSENSE » The Beginning of the End Over the Latest War Funds Fight — Saturday, 8 December , 2007 @ 2:23 pm
By Mwalimu Daudi, Friday, 7 December , 2007 @ 11:33 pm
I wonder if Markos Moulitas’ head will finally explode?
Maybe Senator Ned Lamont can put him back together again……………..
By K T Cat, Sunday, 9 December , 2007 @ 12:03 am
Mmmmmmm. Pork.