You see, I remember the last Iraq Occupation Supplemental. I remember we’ll do it this one more time and draw the line in the sand in September. Of course, September came and went, and we should be happy that there wasn’t any funding. Same for October and November. But now it’s December!
From The Washington Post:
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.
Ah, compromise. Bush gets his money for the occupation, and Dems get more money that they should have been able to get without compromise.
But the deal has a long way to go before it can be enacted. Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) vowed last month to oppose any additional money for the Iraq war that does not come with a timeline for the withdrawal of U.S. troops. In talks this week with White House Chief of Staff Joshua B. Bolten and White House budget chief Jim Nussle, Reid signaled that he could accept the McConnell deal, according to Senate Democratic aides. But Pelosi is uncommitted, spokesman Nadeam Elshami said.
It will be interesting to see what Nancy does. If she had the courage of what she has indicated were here convictions, the bill wouldn’t be brought up for a vote. My guess is that Stenny wouldn’t be pushing this if she hadn’t approved.
Regardless of the spending increases for veterans, health care, education and other domestic priorities, however, several House Democrats have said they will vote against any bill that includes war funding shorn of policy prescriptions. Pelosi will have to attract considerable Republican support to get the deal through.
Nancy will need to attract considerable Republican support? I thought she was a Democrat. Foolish me.
Hoyer struck a pragmatic tone, pushing for Congress to adjourn for the year by the end of next week. He suggested that Democrats need to divorce their goal of ending the war from the battle over funding.
“We have to get to a point where the American public more clearly perceives our policy position and is not confused by whether or not the Democrats intend to support the troops that we’ve sent to Iraq. I don’t think there’s an option on that,” Hoyer said.
With a Leadership like this, who needs House Republicans?
On the impeachment front, there’s better news! Via impeachforpeace.org:
Rep. Raul M. Grijalva (D-AZ) became the 23rd Congressman to co-sponsor the resolution (H.R. 799, formerly H.R. 333) introduced by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney. Grijalva, who represents the 7th Congressional District in Arizona, embracing Tucson and Nogales, is the son of a Mexican migrant worker. He is the 2nd Vice Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. According to the Library of Congress, Rep. Grijalva added his name on Dec. 5.
You can contact Rep. Grijalva by phone at (202) 225-2435 (Washington office), (520) 622-6788 (Tucson office) or (928) 343-7933 (Yuma office). Call the Congressman and tell him you appreciate his support for H Res 799.
There was recently an impeachment rally in Denver called “Who Killed the Constitution: An Interactive Exploration of What Went Wrong, Who is Responsible, and How to Fix It.” Here are videos from that meeting:
Mike Miles:
John Nichols Part 1:
John Nichols Part 2:
David Swanson:
(h/t to afterdowningstreet.org)
And lest you forget:
As always, now more than ever,
Go Dennis!
http://dennis4president.com
Choose Peace!