lily
04-11-2007, 09:49 PM
On the one hand, the Democrats will look like they're stonewlling if they don't go. On the other hand, Bush is stonewalling. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/10/AR2007041000663.html?referrer=email)
Bush Invites Democrats to Discuss Iraq
Hill Leaders Wary of President's Tone on Spending Measure
By Michael Abramowitz and Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, April 11, 2007; Page A08
President Bush invited lawmakers to the White House next week to try to
break the stalemate on Iraq war funding, but he made it clear yesterday that
he is not budging on his key demand -- a "clean" bill without "artificial
deadlines" for withdrawal or restrictions on his commanders on the ground.
At the same time, Bush used a morning visit to American Legion Post 177 in
Fairfax to renew pressure on Congress to send him the spending bill, warning
that the Pentagon will soon be forced to transfer an additional $1.6 billion
in funds from other military accounts to make up for a looming shortfall in
funding for the Iraq operations. The appearance was another in a series of
steps calculated at stiffening the spines of his conservative base for a
coming confrontation with Democratic lawmakers.
"Democratic leaders in Congress are bent on using a bill that funds our
troops to make a political statement about the war," Bush told the audience.
"They need to do it quickly and get it to my desk so I can veto it, and then
Congress can get down to the business of funding our troops without strings
and without further delay."
Democratic leaders reacted coolly to the latest mix of overture and threat
from the president, with Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) and
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) suggesting they would not attend the
White House meeting unless Bush dropped what they consider to be his
preconditions.
"I've prided myself on being a pretty good trial lawyer," said Reid. "I've
settled lots and lots of cases. But you never settle a case going in saying,
'You can come and meet with me, but here's what the result's going to be
before we meet.' That doesn't work."
The standoff between Bush and Congress involves about $100 billion in
funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Both chambers have approved
separate bills providing the funding, but the two bills also call for
effectively shutting down the war in Iraq through timetables for withdrawal.
The House bill calls for all combat troops to be removed by Aug. 31, 2008,
while the Senate version calls for withdrawals to begin 120 days after
passage of the bill, with a goal of pulling all troops out by March 31,
2008.
Bush has said he would veto either bill -- the two chambers must first
reconcile their differences and send legislation to his desk -- and is
calculating that he can keep enough Republicans in line to prevent the
Democrats from assembling the two-thirds majority they need in both chambers
to override a veto.
Toward that end, the White House has focused efforts in recent weeks on
shoring up its backing among conservatives, who remain strongly supportive
of the war effort despite its unpopularity among the broader electorate.
Conservative leaders have been invited to the White House for private
briefings, and presidential surrogates, including Vice President Cheney,
have been dispatched to conservative talk radio and other venues.
With conservatives in mind, Bush is also increasingly complaining about
spending provisions inserted by Democrats into the bills for non-war
purposes. While Republicans did the same thing when they controlled the
Congress, one senior administration official said the White House received a
clear "lesson" from the midterm elections about how much conservatives
dislike such "pork-barrel" spending. "This is right in our wheelhouse," said
this official, who discussed strategy on the condition of anonymity.
[quote]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[quote]With conservatives in mind, Bush is also increasingly complaining about
spending provisions inserted by Democrats into the bills for non-war
purposes. While Republicans did the same thing when they controlled the
Congress, one senior administration official said the White House received a
clear "lesson" from the midterm elections about how much conservatives
dislike such "pork-barrel" spending. "This is right in our wheelhouse," said
this official, who discussed strategy on the condition of anonymity.
I that's the message they got from the last election......'08 is going to be a shoo in.
Bush Invites Democrats to Discuss Iraq
Hill Leaders Wary of President's Tone on Spending Measure
By Michael Abramowitz and Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, April 11, 2007; Page A08
President Bush invited lawmakers to the White House next week to try to
break the stalemate on Iraq war funding, but he made it clear yesterday that
he is not budging on his key demand -- a "clean" bill without "artificial
deadlines" for withdrawal or restrictions on his commanders on the ground.
At the same time, Bush used a morning visit to American Legion Post 177 in
Fairfax to renew pressure on Congress to send him the spending bill, warning
that the Pentagon will soon be forced to transfer an additional $1.6 billion
in funds from other military accounts to make up for a looming shortfall in
funding for the Iraq operations. The appearance was another in a series of
steps calculated at stiffening the spines of his conservative base for a
coming confrontation with Democratic lawmakers.
"Democratic leaders in Congress are bent on using a bill that funds our
troops to make a political statement about the war," Bush told the audience.
"They need to do it quickly and get it to my desk so I can veto it, and then
Congress can get down to the business of funding our troops without strings
and without further delay."
Democratic leaders reacted coolly to the latest mix of overture and threat
from the president, with Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) and
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) suggesting they would not attend the
White House meeting unless Bush dropped what they consider to be his
preconditions.
"I've prided myself on being a pretty good trial lawyer," said Reid. "I've
settled lots and lots of cases. But you never settle a case going in saying,
'You can come and meet with me, but here's what the result's going to be
before we meet.' That doesn't work."
The standoff between Bush and Congress involves about $100 billion in
funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Both chambers have approved
separate bills providing the funding, but the two bills also call for
effectively shutting down the war in Iraq through timetables for withdrawal.
The House bill calls for all combat troops to be removed by Aug. 31, 2008,
while the Senate version calls for withdrawals to begin 120 days after
passage of the bill, with a goal of pulling all troops out by March 31,
2008.
Bush has said he would veto either bill -- the two chambers must first
reconcile their differences and send legislation to his desk -- and is
calculating that he can keep enough Republicans in line to prevent the
Democrats from assembling the two-thirds majority they need in both chambers
to override a veto.
Toward that end, the White House has focused efforts in recent weeks on
shoring up its backing among conservatives, who remain strongly supportive
of the war effort despite its unpopularity among the broader electorate.
Conservative leaders have been invited to the White House for private
briefings, and presidential surrogates, including Vice President Cheney,
have been dispatched to conservative talk radio and other venues.
With conservatives in mind, Bush is also increasingly complaining about
spending provisions inserted by Democrats into the bills for non-war
purposes. While Republicans did the same thing when they controlled the
Congress, one senior administration official said the White House received a
clear "lesson" from the midterm elections about how much conservatives
dislike such "pork-barrel" spending. "This is right in our wheelhouse," said
this official, who discussed strategy on the condition of anonymity.
[quote]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[quote]With conservatives in mind, Bush is also increasingly complaining about
spending provisions inserted by Democrats into the bills for non-war
purposes. While Republicans did the same thing when they controlled the
Congress, one senior administration official said the White House received a
clear "lesson" from the midterm elections about how much conservatives
dislike such "pork-barrel" spending. "This is right in our wheelhouse," said
this official, who discussed strategy on the condition of anonymity.
I that's the message they got from the last election......'08 is going to be a shoo in.