And everyone knows it. What you want to do is unconstitutional, why in the world would anyone expect Bush to sign away his rights? That just nuts. What you are counting on is the stupidity of the public but I think it's pretty clear that you guys are going on vacation while you hold up funding for the troops. Some support!
In his most combative comments yet, President Bush mocked Democratic lawmakers yesterday for including a deadline for troop withdrawals and "pork" projects in an Iraq spending bill, declaring that "the American people will know who to hold responsible" if funding for the war stalls.Yeah, there is. One that refuses to do their job, one that is more spendthrift than the last Congress and one that hasn't kept a single promise that was made on the campaign trial. It's almost three months since you assumed office, where's all the legislation that you promised? And I thought you were going to be the hardest working Congress ever.
Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) shot back that Bush's vow to veto the spending bill carries its own cost. In a joint letter, they warned him against following "a political strategy that would needlessly delay funding for our troops."
"Calm down with the threats. There is a new Congress in town," Pelosi said at a Capitol Hill news conference. "We respect your constitutional role. We want you to respect ours."
And then there's this:
Although Democratic leaders said they still hope to negotiate a final war spending bill that the president could sign, they now view a presidential veto as unavoidable. To prepare, they are studying the events of 1995 and 1996, when President Bill Clinton vetoed appropriations bills and then successfully blamed Congress for shutting down the government.You can study it all you want but you will be blamed.
The White House is studying it too:
Inside the White House, Bush strategists hope that the Democrats will overplay their hand, as the Republicans themselves did a decade ago. "This is in some ways a replay of the government shutdown," agreed one White House official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss strategy. "The Republicans overreached at that point. I think that the Democrats will overreach [now]. We'll see."Will overreach? Will? They've already done it! This is the thing that makes me nuts about this White House, why not hit them where it matters and make sure the American people understand that Congress has overreached their authority. Hit it every chance you get that they are not commander in chief and that the president decides when the war is over.
Read the rest of the article here.
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