Snagged the picture from Michelle Malkin who wrote about this last night.
The Democrats in Congress are attempting to implement their failed strategy once again, this time calling it "The Orderly and Responsible Iraq Redeployment Appropriations Act", which they passed with even less support than the last 40 times they tried it.
Roll call is here and it shows that this time 15 Democrats crossed the aisle to vote against the bill, the vote was 218-203, far short of the two-thirds that would be needed to override a Presidential veto, if it made it that far.
Of course it won't because it will never make it through the Senate with the withdrawal language attached, which they Democrats have already admitted to knowing.
Therefore admitting that the whole process was simply a "symbolic gesture"....all on our taxpayers dime.
The legislation, passed 218-203, was largely a symbolic jab at Bush, who already has begun reducing force levels but opposes a congressionally mandated timetable on the war. And while the measure was unlikely to pass in the Senate — let alone overcome a presidential veto — Democrats said they wanted voters to know they weren't giving up.
The White House's response, via Dana Perino:
"Today the House of Representatives passed on a largely party-line vote legislation that would only partially fund our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, but fully embolden our enemies. Once again, the Democratic leadership is taking this debate down a well-worn path that calls for arbitrary withdrawal from the battlefield, despite the gains our military has made over the past year. These votes, like the dozens of previous failed votes, put the interests of radical interest groups ahead of the needs of our military and their mission. If legislation comes to the President in this form, he will certainly veto it."
Politico shows us John Boehner's response:
House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) slammed Pelosi and the Democrats, calling the vote "yet another politically-motivated measure that cuts off funding for those continuing to serve our nation in Iraq and hamstrings the commanders who are leading them to victory."
Boehner said the bill "will never be signed into law, and it represents yet another failure for Democratic leaders intent on putting politics before accomplishment."
President Bush has already threatened to veto the Democratic bill, and Senate Republicans have promised a filibuster, meaning Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will be 60 votes to get it through the Senate.
Which brings us right to the point that Strata-Sphere made yesterday:
And we can thank the Dems for making this all possible. Their efforts to push a GOP filibuster on funding our continued success in Iraq will provide a national stage for all the good news in Iraq be presented and explained to the American people. Were would the GOP without Pelosi and Reid being so stubbornly bad on this issue?
Many people work and won't be able to watch the Senate have its debate but we can count on many of the speeches being brought to us on video and people will finally get to see all the good news rather than the spattering that the media does when it hides front page stories on page A-19.
Over at A Newt One some of that victory is spotlighted:
Victory and Good News; Victory and Good News; time and time again, and these camel vomit eaters called Democrats cannot fathom victory. Why? It will signal their demise and end once and for all. Notice to the Defeatocrats...your end is nigh. Bank on it.
NOW is where we come in. There are phone calls to make and people to speak to as Vets For Victory asked us to do yesterday.
You can go here to email and call your senator directly.
Here are also nine key Senators with email contact forms and phone numbers:
Senator McConnell: Phone: (202) 224-2541 Fax: (202) 224-2499 E-mail here: http://mcconnell.senate.gov
Senator Lott: Phone: 202-224-6253 Fax: (202)-224-2262 E-mail here: http://lott.senate.gov/index
Senator Kyl: Phone: (202) 224-4521 Fax: (202) 224-2207 E-mail here: http://kyl.senate.gov/contact
Senator Ensign: Phone: (202)-224-6244 Fax: 202-228-2193. E-mail here: http://ensign.senate.gov/forms
Senator McCain: Phone: (202)-224-2235 Fax (202)-228-2862. E-mail here: http://www.exploremccain.com
Senator Warner: Phone: (202) 224-2023 Fax: (202) 224-6295. E-mail here: http://warner.senate.gov
Senator Cornyn: Phone:202-224-2934 Fax: 202-228-2856. E-mail here: http://cornyn.senate.gov
Senator Smith: Phone: 202-224-3752 Fax: 202-228-3997. E-mail here: http://gsmith.senate.gov
Senator Coleman: Phone: 202-224-5641 Fax: 202-224-1152.E-mail here: http://coleman.senate.gov
Lets start making those calls.
The real irony is that at this moment the wonderful people of Move America Forward are on a 40 stop "honoring our heroes" tour, across America, collecting cards and gifts for our troops in Iraq and our Congressional leaders are stabbing those same troops in the back.
A sad day when ordinary patriotic Americans are showing more support to our troops than our U.S. Congress is.
[Update] The Union Leader has a good piece up detailing the Democrats failures and how this latest pathetic attempt will also fail.
CONGRESS HAS held 40 votes on the Iraq war this year. Only one time did an Iraq bill pass both houses of Congress, Politico.com reported this week, and that bill was vetoed by President Bush. Why has Congress failed so many times to implement the Democratic Party's Iraq war agenda?
It's because the party has no coherent Iraq agenda. "End the war" is not a strategy; it's a white flag.
The American people know the difference between offering a morally and militarily sound alternative to President Bush's strategy and simply oppposing the President to score political points.
Read the rest....
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