Democrats Say They Won’t Back Down on War

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/19/washington/19cong.html?ref=us

By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN
Published: November 19, 2007

WASHINGTON, Nov. 18 — Democrats in Congress failed once again Friday to shift President Bush’s war strategy in Iraq, but insisted that they would not let up. Their explanation for their latest foiled effort seemed to boil down to a simple question: “What else are we supposed to do?”


Susan Etheridge for The New York Times
“Congressional Democrats will not stop championing the will of the American people until our troops come home.” Representative John P. Murtha, Democrat of Pennsylvania


Frustrated by the lack of political progress in Iraq, under pressure by antiwar groups and mindful of polls showing that most Americans want the war to end, the Democrats last week put forward a $50 billion war spending bill with strings attached knowing it would fail.

Like so many of the war-related measures that Democrats have proposed this year, the spending bill sought to set a timeline for redeploying American troops, and to narrow the mission to focus on counterterrorism and on the training of Iraq’s security forces.

And, like so many of the war-related measures that Democrats proposed this year, it was approved in the House only to wither and die in the Senate, where on Friday it fell 7 votes short of the 60 needed to prevent a Republican filibuster — with 45 senators voting to block the measure.

All signs indicate that Democrats will continue proposing such measures as long as Mr. Bush remains in office and troops remain in Iraq. “We are going to keep plugging away,” said Senator Carl Levin of Michigan, chairman of the Armed Services Committee.

Democratic lawmakers and strategists on Capitol Hill said their hope was that even if Republican support for Mr. Bush’s strategy held firm, voters would reward Democrats for their efforts at the polls next November, and that there was no risk to failing again and again.

FULL story at link.

[bbinacan]

1. I've heard that before.

Want to buy a bridge in, say New York?

[calimary]

8. How 'bout one in Minneapolis? I hope they stand firm, but their track record

is just ever so slightly ABYSMAL.

I hope to GOD they stand firm. Harry Reid's holding the Senate in session to foil any bush recess appointments is a good start, but it's only a start. And WAY overdue.

[IndianaGreen]

2. Smells like posturing for the 2008 elections

Their repeated cave-ins this year are proof enough that there is more bark than bite in the Democratic Congress's dog.

[yourout]

3. I wish I had any confidence that they won't roll over without a fight.

Please prove me wrong.

[OhioChick]

4. Yeah, Riiiiiiiight.

:eyes:

[tularetom]

5. They won't back down on it when?

I can't count the number of times they've backed down on it so far. When are they planning to grow a spine?

[pinto]

6. The latest, only 7 votes short in the Senate. I don't discount this effort,

(R)'s see the same national polls about our Iraq fiasco. Whether they choose to help put a halt to all this is up to them, of course, yet I favor keeping severely limited funds tied to a withdrawal time line, in the legislative forefront, and if it takes our next election, let them face their constituents.

[marmar]

7. It's dejavu all over again.....

:boring:

[MannyGoldstein]

9. They Are not Articulating A Clear And Comprehensive Position

They are gonna get toasted unless they make their case.