Don't Blame the Democrats

[Guest 9 Trillion Dollar Republican Natio]

When you have a Republican running the Whitehouse this is what you

get! Our thin majority of Democrats are doing all they can, if you

want serious progress learn your fucking lesson and elect more

Democrats next time! Republicans don't give a fuck what the voters

want or think, they will stand in the way of and veto EVERYTHING. Do

the fucking math.

 

Democrats Maneuver To Force Iraq Votes

 

By Shailagh Murray

Washington Post Staff Writer

Tuesday, July 17, 2007; Page A04

 

Senate Democratic leaders are planning a rare all-night session

tonight, employing theatrics and scheduling votes that they hope will

chip away at Republican resolve to back President Bush's Iraq war

strategy.

 

Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) had hoped to convince

Republicans to allow a simple-majority vote on a Democratic proposal

to withdraw most U.S. troops from Iraq by next spring. But GOP leaders

held firm to a 60-vote threshold for passage -- a routine maneuver in

today's closely divided Senate but a number Democrats have been unable

to meet all year. And Republicans decried Reid's decision for a

marathon session as a stunt.

 

Democrats employed similar delaying tactics when they were in the

minority, but Reid said the gravity of the Iraq war calls for a

straightforward debate, free of political or procedural gimmicks.

 

"We're going to continue working on this until we get a vote on this

amendment," Reid said. "It's unfortunate that President Bush has

proven, beyond any doubt, that he won't listen to the Congress or the

American people unless he's forced to, and that's what this amendment

does."

 

Given the GOP's position, Reid said he would require 60 votes on all

Republican-backed Iraq proposals, which could spill the Senate debate

well into next week. "It's 'turnabout is fair play,' " Reid said.

 

The Iraq measures, all aimed at changing the U.S. mission to varying

degrees, are pending as amendments to the annual defense authorization

bill, which Democrats are using to try force an immediate change in

the president's war strategy.

 

Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) responded to Reid with a

counteroffer: an automatic 60-vote threshold for all key Iraq

amendments, eliminating the time-consuming process of clearing

procedural hurdles. Democrats agreed to similar terms on several Iraq

votes earlier this year, and all the controversial war-related votes

held since Democrats took control of the Senate in January have

required 60 "yeas" to pass.

 

"It's a shame that we find ourselves in the position that we're in,"

McConnell said. "It produces a level of animosity and unity on the

minority side that makes it more difficult for the majority to pass

important legislation."

 

Assuming neither side blinks, the Senate is expected to vote Wednesday

on the Democratic amendment, offered by Armed Services Committee

Chairman Carl M. Levin (Mich.) and Sen. Jack Reed (R.I.). It would

require Bush to begin reducing the number of U.S. troops in Iraq

within four months, while reassigning remaining forces to specific

missions, including the training of Iraqi security forces and

counterterrorism operations. Under the proposal, most U.S. troops

would leave Iraq by April 30, 2008.

 

Three Republicans have signed on to the plan: Sens. Olympia J. Snowe

(Maine), Gordon Smith (Ore.) and Chuck Hagel (Neb.). Support is

expected to top 50 votes but fall short of the 60 required.

 

Republicans are more enthusiastic about two other pending amendments.

One, authored by Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.), would turn the 79

recommendations of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group into U.S. law. The

other, offered by Sens. John W. Warner (R-Va.) and Richard G. Lugar (R-

Ind.), two of the GOP's most respected foreign policy voices, would

require Bush to begin planning for troop reductions or redeployments

to begin in January.

 

Reid said he expects those measures to reach the floor this week, but

he added, referring to the Levin-Reed amendment, "We'll do one at a

time, see what happens on this."

 

Bush is pressing Congress to hold its fire until September, when Gen.

David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and Ambassador Ryan

C. Crocker deliver a highly anticipated assessment of the war. But a

consensus appears to be emerging in the Senate that the administration

cannot wait until autumn to consider its next steps.

 

So far, Reid has dismissed the Salazar and Warner-Lugar measures as

too meek because they mostly encourage, rather than force, Bush to

change course. "It's like grading your own test," he said. "We have to

force the president to change this; otherwise we're going to have

American soldiers killed for the next 18 months unnecessarily."