Despite the predictions of pundits that Democratic unity behind demanding withdrawal from Iraq next year would crack not long after the passage of the supplemental bill, the House voted today 215-199 to insist congressional negotiators trying to reconcile the House and Senate bills retain the firm timetable. The vote was orchestrated by Republicans to try to embarrass Democrats, but it was this sad attempt to do so that failed embarrassingly.
The conference report is expected to be passed and sent to President Bush' s desk sometime next week.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
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3 comments:
Unfortunately, this bill has no bite. They may vote to retain the language now, but they can't override a veto and when the time comes, they will strip the timetable from the legislation so Bush will be able to fund the troops.
I disagree. We don't know exactly what they will do after Bush vetoes, but given the strong statements of Harry Reid, I don't think backing down is their intent. It seems to me this is the first attempt in what we will see as a long line of attempts over the next few months, and each one will bring on more Republicans until Bush is forced to listen. So I think saying this bill has no bite sort of misses the point.
I agree with Adam. Right now people are assuming that Democrats will blink when the time comes, but aside from what appeared to be some initial reluctance to really do battle with the Bush administration, they've been willing to go toe-to-toe. Poll numbers support what they're doing, and the harder they fight Bush on the war, the more people get behind them. It seems clear to me that Democrats are emboldened, and are now waiting for the Bush administration to blink. It's only a matter of time before they do, probably forced to by a lack of support from Republican members of Congress who want to keep their seats in 2008.
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