[Sosfbay-discuss] BREAKING NEWS - Dems Cave on War Spending

[alexcathy at aol.com]

Why am I NOT surprised? 

 
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Posted by The New York Times, 10 minutes ago.
 
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/22/washington/22cnd-cong.html?hp 
 
Tuesday, May 22, 2007.
 
Democrats Drop Withdrawal Dates From Iraq Bill 
 
By Carl Hulse 
 
WASHINGTON, May 22 — Congressional
Democrats relented today on their insistence that a war spending measure sought
by President Bush also set a date for withdrawing troops from Iraq. The decision to back
down, described by senior lawmakers and aides, , was a wrenching reversal for
some Democrats, who saw their election triumph as a call to force an end to the
war. A Democratic effort to include timelines prompted Mr. Bush’s veto of the
original bill last month, producing a political impasse. 
 
“We don’t have a veto-proof Congress,”
said Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority
leader.
 
Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, the
House Democratic majority leader, said the new bill was still being assembled,
but he acknowledged the political reality facing Democrats. “The president has
made it very clear that he is not going to sign timelines,” said Mr. Hoyer. “We
can’t pass timelines over his veto.”
 
The concession to the president was proving so difficult
for the Democratic leadership that by this afternoon, the lawmakers had not yet
publicly acknowledged that the timelines would disappear. House Democrats were
preparing to advance two separate measures, to enable antiwar lawmakers to
support popular domestic spending but not the money for the war. House
Democrats were to review the proposal later this evening, but lawmakers were
already predicting that many would not support the war spending.
 
Under the new plan approved by
Democratic leaders, Congress would send Mr. Bush the money for the war and
include a series of benchmarks that attracted 52 votes in the Senate last week.
The Iraqi government could lose some foreign aid if it fails to show sufficient
progress but the president would be given the authority to suspend any penalties.
 
. . . 
 
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