“On this issue, Democrats in the Senate start with 49 votes, and the opposition has 50, so it is a little hard to flex your muscles too much when you start one vote behind,” said Mr. Reid, referring to the general split on war issues in the Senate.Emphasis mine.
It has never been about the troops for the Democratic party, it has always been about fighting Bush on anything and everything they can, even if it means harming our own troops in the field.
They ran on a platform of offering nothing, simply saying, they disagree with Bush therefore they should be voted in... their voters fell for it, hook, line and sinker.
It has been noticed according to the latest Gallup Poll and the latest Investors Business Daily polls.
People from both party's and the independents are not only noticing, they are turning against the Democrats in the Congress and Senate, especially telling are the lowering approval ratings for congress by Democratic voters (Gallup).
Looks like all the talk of retreat in defeat and surrender is turning the American people off, and rightly so.
We all want our troops home. As the military keeps telling us, we want them home after their mission is complete, a mission they believe they are winning, a mission they believe is a worthy cause, a mission they are willing and continue to enlist and REenlist to finish.
You see, our fine brave soldiers believe that if people want to be free, it is worth risking their lives for to help them as shown in a soldiers letter to America.... something the Democrats just cannot grasp but the American people are starting to, finally.
The New York Times article where I quoted Baghdad Reid above states that congressional Democratic leaders signaled on Wednesday that they were ready to give ground to end an impasse with President Bush over war spending after the Senate soundly rejected a Democratic plan to block money for major combat operations in Iraq beginning next spring.
The 67-to-29 vote against the proposal demonstrated that a significant majority of Senators remained unwilling to demand a withdrawal of forces despite their own misgivings and public unease over the war.
Notice the article never once mentions the new information from the Gallup polls or the Investors Business Daily poll showing how the American people really feel.... where it shows that American like the idea of timelines, AFTER the job is done.
They just ignore things that do not fit their political agenda as many in the MSM do these days.
Click the thumbnail below to see an enlarged version.
Make sure you click the picture to enlarge and get the other poll results. The MAJORITY of Americans, contrary to what the Democrats keep saying, do not agree with them.
The NYT article continues:
Forty-seven Republicans, an independent and 19 Democrats opposed the plan drafted by Senator Russell D. Feingold, Democrat of Wisconsin, which would have limited spending mainly to counterterrorism and the training of Iraqi troops as of April 1, 2008.
The margin also illustrated the divide among Democrats over how far to go in challenging Mr. Bush over the war. All four Democratic senators seeking the presidential nomination, including Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, were among the 29 who backed the proposal. Among those opposed were Democratic leaders on military policy like Carl Levin of Michigan, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, and Jack Reed of Rhode Island, a former Army officer.
After the vote, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader and a co-sponsor of the Feingold plan, said he was committed to delivering legislation acceptable to Mr. Bush by the end of next week. He conceded that the compromise was likely to disappoint war opponents who had pushed Congress to set a pullout date.
“On this issue, Democrats in the Senate start with 49 votes, and the opposition has 50, so it is a little hard to flex your muscles too much when you start one vote behind,” said Mr. Reid, referring to the general split on war issues in the Senate.
Yes by all means, flex those muscles, have a pissing match with the president while our troops wait for their funds.
This is what Baghdad Reid and Nancy Pelosi are all about and I think the only ones that showed any actual courage were the 19 democrats that voted with the republicans against surrender.
Kudos to them.
Back to the meetings now bewteen the White House and the Democratic leadership.
WASHINGTON - Senate leaders met with President Bush's chief of staff in the Capitol on Thursday in search of a compromise bill to fund the Iraq war, eager to avoid a second veto showdown.
"We'll work through something we can all live with," the president told reporters at the White House.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (news, bio, voting record) said that was his goal, adding that Democrats would not give the White House "a blank check." Bush "has to deal with us," he said.
Bush vetoed an earlier measure, objecting to a proposed timetable for a troop withdrawal as well as several billion dollars Democrats inserted for their favored domestic programs.
House Democrats failed to override his veto, then countered with a replacement bill to finance the war in two 60-day installments. Bush vowed to veto that bill, as well.
The Senate sidetracked the House's confrontational approach, passing legislation that merely pledges to provide the troops the resources they need — an action designed to pave the way for Bolten's mid-morning visit to the Capitol for renewed talks with Reid and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (news, bio, voting record) of Kentucky.
The vote was 94-1.
Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., cast the lone dissenting vote. He favors cutting off money to end the war.
Yes well we see where that idiocy has gotten Feingold, now haven't we?
McConnell says that this process will be finished by Memorial day.
We will see.
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