Posted by: McQ on Friday, March 23, 2007 The most liberal of the Congressional caucuses caved in today to pressure from Democratic Congressional leadership which all but assures passage of the deeply flawed supplemental spending bill for the Iraq war. Citing unity over principle, the caucus said they'd provide enough votes to ensure it's passage: As debate began on the bill yesterday, members of the antiwar caucus and party leaders held a backroom meeting in which House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) made a final plea to the group, asking it to deliver at least four votes when the roll is called. The members promised 10.Of course making no deal at all would smack of a principled stand, wouldn't it? It's not that I'm surprised or particularly bothered by the liberal capitulation on the subject of Iraq. I've been expecting it. But again, this is all about show. The basic attempt here is to tie Bush's hands as to how he can manage the war and how long he has to do so, thus making him responsible for an almost preordained failure. It allows Democrats to avoid responsibility for failure while all but ensuring it. It is what David Obey was screaming about in the hallway when he called liberals "idiots". For all its wrongheadedness, the "Out of Iraq" caucus was the most principled group of Congressional Democrats when it came to the war in Iraq. They understood that the moral and ethical way to end the war was to defund it - something well within their power. And, one assumes, they understood the political ramifications that brought and they were willing to bear them. While I probably would have condemned them had they done so, I would have at least respected them. But today they threw principle to the wolves and "compromised". The compromise allows the funding to which they so object while supposedly setting a 'date certain' for withdrawal. Folks, there is only one date certain for beginning a withdrawal and that is January 20, 2009 and then only if a Democrat wins the White House. Every other date is not only negotiable, but flexible and if you don't believe me, hide and watch. This may pass, but it isn't going to go anywhere in real terms toward ending the war in Iraq, especially when you consider that the Senate has yet to have been heard from. But the machinations and contortions the Democrats have gone through to get it passed have been extreme. And, of course, in some cases, their explanations stretch credulity. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) on On CNN this morning with anchor Miles O'Brien talking about the supplemental: O'BRIEN: We got to talk about the pork. There is a lot of pork added on to it. Let's go through the list briefly. There is $74 Million in there to help peanut growers store their peanuts, there's $25 million for spinach growers dealing with that e. Coli problem, $252 million in milk subsidies, $3.3 billion in crop and livestock losses.Amazing. Shrimp, spinach and peanuts are "emergency objectives" now? But back to the liberal "OoI" caucus. What's the real reason for tossing principle out the window and giving in? One acronym will suffice: BDS. "You really have two options here: One is that you can vote for a change of course here and say we're going to find a way out of Iraq, or, two, you can vote against it and hand George Bush a victory," said Jon Soltz, a veteran of the Iraq war and co-founder of VoteVets.org, a group that opposes the war. "It doesn't make sense to me. George Bush got us into the war. They have challenged him on everything. Why would they give him this victory now?" he asked, referring to the liberals.So to the Democrats out there who support this nonsense, please keep the future guff about "principled opposition" to yourself. This bill has nothing to do with principle and everything to do with attempting to hurt Bush and his chances to succeed in Iraq. It's an irresponsible, unconscionable and, frankly nauseating attempt to avoid responsibility which will most likely end up getting troops in Iraq killed. Congrats. You must be so proud. UPDATE: The number of votes necessary to pass this bill was 218. The bill got exactly 218 votes. But only 216 Democrats voted for it. Two Republicans voted "yes" and pushed it over the top. Rep Walter Jones of NC and Rep. Wayne Gilchrest of MD. |
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