Congress Buckling on Iraq Timetable
Posted on | April 19, 2007
Scandal after flub after disaster hasn’t diluted the resolve of Da Prez. Congress may hold the purse strings, but they fear being labeled as obstructionist, or accepting blame for Bush’s loss of the war in Iraq:
Congressional Democratic leaders are moving to make their proposed timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq “advisory” as they seek to reconcile two versions of war spending legislation into a single bill that they plan to pass next week, according to several House members.
The compromise language would keep the deadlines included in the original House bill but make them nonbinding, as the Senate version did, and would allow President Bush to waive troop-readiness standards, lawmakers said. Bush has vowed to veto legislation with timetables in it, calling it a schedule of surrender, but Democrats hope to show that they are being flexible and the president rigid by softening the terms. The compromises may cost Democrats votes among antiwar liberals, but they hope to pick up some Republicans…
Asked if the meeting changed anything, House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) said flatly: “No.”
Most of the talk appeared aimed at positioning for the next phase of the fight after a veto. One House Democrat said Congress might pass a 60-day spending bill without conditions for Bush to sign to keep troops funded while the debate continues. Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.) said Democrats are treating June 1 as the final deadline for passage of a war-funding bill that would not be vetoed.
The longer Congress continues to fund Bush’s lethal overseas adventure, the more responsibility for its failure is theirs. He can be stopped, given sufficient courage in our elected representatives.
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