I have to give Rep. Jerry McNerney (CA-11) credit for showing up at Firedoglake and taking the tough questions. But his mantra is not really all that insightful. Over and over again, he says that we need to create a veto-proof majority to end the war in Iraq. No we don’t. We could tell the President, now, that he already received his last dime for the war and that he better start bringing the troops home with the money that has already been appropriated. Once we see the troops on the way home, we can supply a little more cash on an as needed basis.
Give everyone…the President, the Pentagon, the media, the people, plenty of notice. No game of chicken here. Have Pelosi and Reid go out in front of the cameras tomorrow and say that they will not pass any more emergency appropriations…period.
If we wait for a veto-proof majority of Republicans, in both houses, to force the end of this war, then we will be there through the 2008 elections.
McNerney is a stand-up guy for engaging the Netroots, but his mantra is simply unworkable.
I hope you mean Democrats…
Actually, I just mean a veto-proof majority.
His mantra sounds like yet another reason for Democrats to be complacent.
It won’t work. We have Bush as our commander in Chief, we will not bring the troops home under any circumstances. He is bat shit insane and is not amenable to reason. If we cut off funding for the troops, he will still order them to stay and then try to force a showdown.
Then we have a three way game of chicken. The insane President can bring them home, the congress can fund the troops, or we get a coup from the military and they bring them home despite the president.
The troops will come home when and if we have a sane commander in chief.
It won’t work because the Democrats are not unified and they have no will to prevail.
McNerney was disappointing. I read the whole thread. All he could say was “veto-proof majority,” “veto-proof majority,” “veto-proof majority.”
The Dems have waived the power of the purse. If the House doesn’t appropriate the money for the war, there is no money. It doesn’t even take both houses of Congress. Yes, Bush would steal the money. Make him do it. Spineless lumps we elected.