Yesterday, the Democrats in Congress managed to show a surprisingly large amount of strength.
First, Representative John Murtha called for withdrawing US troops from Iraq in six months.
Then, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosia managed to get all the Democrats in the House to vote against the GOP led budget cuts to the amount of $50 billion mostly for foodstamps and aid to college students and farmers (to be kind, some of the cuts in farm aid were probably past due). The House Republican leadership failed on the vote yesterday before finally passing it, stunning evidence that the rift within the Republican party is growing.
That follows Senate Republicans passing a resolution calling for President Bush to move towards a withdrawal from Iraq that borrowed heavily from a Democratic version that included timetables and the Senate delaying passage of the Patriot Act renewal.
"Toughness" is overrated. The Democratic moves in Congress do not resemble a plan for the future. But having the backbone in other areas shows perhaps that they are ready to do so.
Friday, November 18, 2005
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2 comments:
"The House Republican leadership failed on the vote twice..."
If I'm interpreting your statement correctly, you may want to read the article again. The House passed the budget bill.
From the WP, "The House narrowly approved a broad five-year budget plan..."
I wish your version was true, but...
You weren't interpreting my statement correctly, but it wasn't really clear. I meant to say that the Republicans failed twice to pass the budget, even though it passed in the end. I was wrong, however about the House rejecting the measure, although the Republicans did have to reorganize themselves a number of times for the final passage last night.
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