Friday, March 30, 2007
Who Will Blink First ?
The battle over the Iraq appropriations bill is heating up. President Bush has made it clear that he intends to veto it. And the strategy for winning public support will be to emphasize the pork included in the bill (see below). True that one man's pork could mean bread on the table for another. However, even as a supporter of troop withdrawal deadlines I feel uncomfortable about some of the "other spending measures". While the American public has become tired of the war and lost faith in the president, how will the veto play out is a question mark. Democrats are not likely to be able to muster the two-thirds majority to override it.
Washington Post
- Reid pushed the war spending bill through on a largely party-line 51 to 47 vote yesterday. The measure would fund operations in Iraq and Afghanistan but also require Bush to begin withdrawing combat troops from Iraq within four months, with the goal of a pullout by the end of next March.
- The bill includes billions of dollars for domestic priorities, such as Hurricane Katrina aid and agricultural disaster relief, as well as $100 million for security at the 2008 Republican and Democratic conventions -- a widely mocked provision that critics tried to strike from the measure.
- The dueling events on opposite ends of Pennsylvania Avenue left the executive and legislative branches hurtling toward a high-stakes collision, with neither side showing signs of backing down. Both sides, in fact, appear to be relishing the confrontation to some extent, gambling that they can outmaneuver the other, galvanize the most passionate forces within their parties, win over public opinion and force an eventual resolution on their terms.
© Associated Press
If the chart appears too small, go to: CNN.com
Overriding Presidential Veto
Override of a veto - The process by which each chamber of Congress votes on a bill vetoed by the President. To pass a bill over the President's objections requires a two-thirds vote in each Chamber. Historically, Congress has overridden fewer than ten percent of all presidential vetoes. |
