The Hammerette

[Dr. Shane]

House OKs Timetable for Troops in Iraq

Quote:

With Democrats holding 233 seats and Republicans with 201, Democrats were able to afford only 15 "no" votes. Accordingly, Pelosi, and her leadership team spent days trying to convince members that the bill was Congress' best chance of forcing Bush to change course—an argument that was aided when they added more than $20 billion in domestic spending in an effort to lure votes.

They got a breakthrough Thursday when four of the bill's most consistent critics said they would not stand in its way. California Democrats Lynn Woolsey, Diane Watson, Barbara Lee and Maxine Waters said they would help round up support for the bill despite their intention to personally vote against it because it would not end the war immediately.

I would hardly call that a victory for Pelosi. If she had been able to get some Republicans to cross party lines and not had to pay off a bunch of Democrats with congressional pork, it would have been indisputably a victory. As it went, it doesn't seem like anything different than how the hammer use to do things.

[Dr. Shane]

The Senate has now passed its bill loaded with congressional pork too. Now one has to wonder why load the bills up with pork? Wouldn't that hurt the anti-war cause as it casts a shadow on the motives of the these noble anti-war politicians?

It reminds me of the Democrats of the 80s when they controlled Congress. President Reagan wanted to build up a strong military. So Congress loaded every military bill up with congressional pork and sent it to the President. Seems like they are back to their old ways. However... some of them are wanting to run for President as fiscal conservatives. No chance of them being able to pull that off when they vote for bills like this one.

[Neil D]

Quote:

The Senate has now passed its bill loaded with congressional pork too.

Hmmmmm.....Pork....

My library is shutting down because of lack of public funds.

This bill has funds in it to restart it back up again.

I view the public library as a necessary item in our community. And I don't concider this "pork".

I know, I know...we all have to make sacrifices for the war effort,....hummmmph...some war effort...That Iraq war is really a civil war that we are sending OUR boys to quell... Nobody really looks at history, do they? The Russians had thier "Vietnam" in that region, and we are looking at another "Vietnam", only this time, it is gonna be a desert vietnam...

If we are gonna rebuild that area, let's just nuke the place and take it over, eh? That way we get the oil, and we get rid of the subversive element that continually makes war.... Less costly in American lives.....

PS

Oh, I forgot this [/TIC]

[Dr. Shane]

Some projects in the bill may be worth while but the point is that the Democrats are trying to play the same games with defense that the Democrats in the 1980s did.

Why load up a defense bill with library funds? If the library is legitimate, as I would agree that it is, it shouldn't have to be loaded on to a defense bill in order to get approved.