| May 1, 2007 @ 6:37 PM |
Hell YEAH!
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MarysPlace
Posts: 2,930
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Bush vetoes troop withdrawal bill
By ANNE FLAHERTY and JENNIFER LOVEN, Associated Press Writers 3 minutes ago
WASHINGTON -
President Bush vetoed legislation to pull U.S. troops out of
Iraq Tuesday night in a historic showdown with Congress over whether the unpopular and costly war should end or escalate.
In only the second veto of his presidency, Bush rejected legislation pushed by Democratic leaders that would require the first U.S. combat troops to be withdrawn from Iraq by Oct. 1 with a goal of a complete pullout six months later.
"This is a prescription for chaos and confusion and we must not impose it on our troops," Bush said in a nationally broadcast statement from the White House. He said the bill would "mandate a rigid and artificial deadline" for troop pullouts, and "it makes no sense to tell the enemy when you plan to start withdrawing."
Democrats made a last-minute plea for Bush to sign the bill, knowing their request would be ignored. "The president has put our troops in the middle of a civil war," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (news, bio, voting record). "Reality on the ground proves what we all know: A change of course is needed."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (news, bio, voting record) said the legislation "respects the wishes of the American people to end the Iraq war."
Lacking the votes to override the president, Democratic leaders quietly considered what might be included or kept out of their next version of the $124 billion spending bill. Bush will meet with congressional leaders — Democrats and Republicans alike — on Wednesday to discuss a new bill.
Bush said Democrats had made a political statement by passing anti-war legislation. "They've sent their message, and now it's time to put politics behind us and support our troops with the funds," the president said.
He said the need to act is urgent because without a war-funding bill, the armed forces will have to consider cutting back on buying or repairing equipment.
"Our troops and their families deserve better, and their elected leaders can do better," Bush said.
"Whatever our differences, surely we can agree that our troops are worthy of this funding and that we have a responsibility to get it to them without further delay," the president said.
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| May 1, 2007 @ 6:51 PM |
Hell YEAH! |
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FeliciVagano
Posts: 2,152
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business as usual....it is all my fault...wait...it can't be..cause I am not a liberal.... 
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| May 1, 2007 @ 7:06 PM |
Hell YEAH!
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uab_5
Posts: 4,759
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Dubya didn't get the memo, obviously  ...and Congress doesn't have to pass a spending bill. 
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| May 1, 2007 @ 7:09 PM |
Hell YEAH! |
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eastham
Posts: 7,912
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You're right UAB. The White House has painted itself into a corner with the appropriations slight of hand so highly criticized by Baker Commission report. Bush may get the old macho rush from this veto (his first), but Gates will be the one with tin cup in hand tomorrow morning.
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| May 1, 2007 @ 7:26 PM |
Hell YEAH!
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MarysPlace
Posts: 2,930
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Guess some things are just too complex to sink in, so lemme quote again:
"This is a prescription for chaos and confusion and we must not impose it on our troops," Bush said in a nationally broadcast statement from the White House. He said the bill would "mandate a rigid and artificial deadline" for troop pullouts, and "it makes no sense to tell the enemy when you plan to start withdrawing."
One would think such reasoning would be logical, but... logic has left the buildings since libs took over. (on Capitol Hill)
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| May 1, 2007 @ 7:34 PM |
Hell YEAH! |
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eastham
Posts: 7,912
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It is rhetoric...That does not mean it is either logical or inevitable. Since Bush stood on the aircraft carrier four years ago today, his Administration has engaged in a very dangerous practice of not asking for the full amount for the war, but creeping up every few months for a supplemental appropriations. Even in the face of the inevitable victory by Democrats in November 2006, the hubris of this Administration propelled them onward. The President's budget was delivered on Capitol Hill the day after the State of the Union Address. The new Congress agreed to a FY07 continuing resolution and not a week later, the President asked for more money. This type of budget slight of hand not only angers Democrats, but angers budget hawks in the Republican Party, hence Baker's strong language in his committee's report. Bush can thump his chest as much as he wants, but his chest thumping with get him neither a new appropriations bill nor the Congress' approval to reprogram money from other line items to pay for the war in Iraq. He has painted himself into a corner.
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| May 1, 2007 @ 7:37 PM |
Hell YEAH!
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FeliciVagano
Posts: 2,152
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does anyone think we cut and ran in vietnam? it was time for us to leave ... as it is time to let Iraq know we are planning on leaving...
..Bush wants to say the liberal word is cut in stone.... err..that they speak what they mean...err that they don't play fast and loose with facts....
yeah...I guess that they do.... 
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| May 1, 2007 @ 9:06 PM |
Hell YEAH! |
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uab_5
Posts: 4,759
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Dubya said:
"it makes no sense to tell the enemy when you plan to start withdrawing."
They already know we're gonna withdraw some time between now and the end of 2009.
Fess to the facts. We went in without a condom and now there's white stuff all over the place.
There was nothing to win in the first place.
The U.S. was in a lose or lose bigger situation. Dubya chose for us to lose much bigger than was necessary.
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| May 1, 2007 @ 9:17 PM |
Hell YEAH!
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kjac
Posts: 8,163
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Personally, I reserve the phrase 'Hell Yeah' for pleasant surprises. Whether you agree with the war or not, why even send this to the Bush league, knowing full well it will be a veto that you can't override. Smacks of a waste of time to me, spending all this time creating and writing and arguing over something you KNOW won't get passed. To prove something? Exactly what did they prove? With this bill they proved the same thing they accomplished, nothing.
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| May 1, 2007 @ 9:19 PM |
Hell YEAH! |
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MusicMonster
Posts: 2,954
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Bush may get the old macho rush from this veto (his first)
2nd.. 
-MM 
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| May 1, 2007 @ 9:25 PM |
Hell YEAH!
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kjac
Posts: 8,163
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I know it's  But does anyone know what his first veto was?
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| May 1, 2007 @ 9:27 PM |
Hell YEAH! |
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MusicMonster
Posts: 2,954
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Stem cell research.. 
-MM
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| May 1, 2007 @ 9:36 PM |
Hell YEAH!
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sealacamp
Posts: 3,681
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Stem cell research
Uh that was government subsidized embronic stem cell research. Only the issue of government funding was addressed. Stem cell research of any kind is legal and underway. The issue is who is paying for it not weather or not it can be conducted.
S
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| May 1, 2007 @ 9:38 PM |
Hell YEAH! |
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kjac
Posts: 8,163
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Thanks MM, I'll look into that later. But back on topic, does anyone know why this much time and money was wasted, instead of putting together something the Bush League would pass, or something they could pass over him?
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| May 1, 2007 @ 9:45 PM |
Hell YEAH!
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MusicMonster
Posts: 2,954
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Still, that was veto #1, as was asked..
kjac I think it's just an impasse the two parties find themselves engaged in and neither is willing to budge. It's a power struggle..
-MM
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| May 1, 2007 @ 9:50 PM |
Hell YEAH! |
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eastham
Posts: 7,912
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I stand corrected this was the 2nd.
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| May 1, 2007 @ 10:03 PM |
Hell YEAH!
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kjac
Posts: 8,163
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I like the system of checks and balances it creates. As we've seen from the first 6 years of the Bush League reign, an all 1 party system is a mistake. But unfortunately, not only does the inconcievably stupid get thrown by the wayside, but so does the rational. It becomes more about who has the bigger balls, and less about getting anything actually accomplished.
But all in all, I'll take checks and balances over unquestioned free reign any day. It's no longer my way or the higway for the Bush league, so it's time BOTH sides sat down and started compromising.
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| May 2, 2007 @ 2:27 AM |
Hell YEAH! |
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Always_Striving
Posts: 8,794
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George W. Bush (like his father) is out of his fvckin' mind, so Congress needs to de-thrown both him and Cheney, and send them to prison along with Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz.
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| May 2, 2007 @ 11:37 AM |
Hell YEAH!
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Kirkish
Posts: 168
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I would just send another bill with an exit date. Power of the purse strings... congress does not have to give GW what he wants.
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| May 2, 2007 @ 2:33 PM |
Hell YEAH! |
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Bj864
Posts: 3,962
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How many more billions of dollars are the american people willing to spend to get control of the oil over there?
Bush is dragging it out, waiting for the oil contracts to be finalized (he has some democrats helping him too). Then when they are, guess who is going to foot the bill to protect the oil and the companies that are reaping the profits from them?
There has never been a plan to bring our troops home, because they never plan to do it.
Our country is run by the rich and powerful corporations and now our military is dancing to the same tune.
Thats the way I see it.
Wake up Americans. Your gasoline won't be going down. It will keep going right on up, while the oil companies continue to enjoy the highest profits ever made by any business on the planet.
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