Frank: Bush already has his war money

[Bake]

Last night on Countdown, Congressman Barney Frank made sense out of something that a lot of DUers apparently don't get. The new Dem majority in Congress can vote anything they want to, but the Pukes already passed the 2007 defense budget -- in short, Bush has his war money for this year, and there's not a damn thing we can do about it.

Thus, it's not exactly accurate for certain people to call the Dems "co-conspirators," although it does grab headlines and get a lot of people stirred up.

Bake

[Lowell]

1. That is true, but the real test will come when

the administration asks for supplemental funding. They always overspend on defense and this war has a way of costing much more than they originally ask for. So in a few months when Hallburton et al have soaked up this appropriation they will be back asking for more. Then we'll see what this congress is made of.

[napi21]

2. I heard him. I have to believe there is SOMETHING the Congress

can pass though. Some law forbidding any $$ to be spent on a certain expense. If Shrub ignores their demands, they sure can rile up public opinion against him! After all, they have access to the microphone now!

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

3. The Sooner We Accept The Situation The Better....

WE ARE NOT LEAVING IRAQ SO LONG AS GEORGE IS "pRESIDENT"

We can shout at the Democrats, but it will only make them look foolish in the end, and will only enable to label them as "do nothing."

The fact is plain and simple that so long as the Commander In Chief is the Commander In Chief, Congress has only so much control over what happens there. And as the budget for 2007 has already been set, they can only do so much at this point, because he has plenty of money to work with regardless of what we object to.

And approval ratings mean nothing to these Assholes. He can get down to his 23% base, but so long as he is who he is, WE'RE NOT LEAVING IRAQ!!!

[salin]

4. this is why the dems have to attempt different actions to hold bushco

accountable for their war, their war planning, their propoganda selling the war, etc. - so that there are daily reminders in the news that this is BUSHCO struggling to KEEP THEIR WAR GOING. Get that stuck in the public's mind. Also get entrenched in the public's conventional wisdom - the types of tactics used by the right to get our country in this situation and to keep us in it - so the public becomes more wary in the future. If we are stuck in Iraq - might as well take the party down that got us quagmired there.

[Bake]

6. One solution, of course, is to get rid of the CinC

Impeachment. That's really the only way to get rid of a Prez who ignores the will of the people expressed through their elected representatives. Bush has thumbed his nose at a Republican lap-dog Congress; he's certainly not going to bend over for the Dem Congress.

The Pentagon budget, already passed, has plenty of money in it for Bush's dirty war. Unless there are specific earmarks, that budget is his own private war chest.

KO also asked Frank about the idea that Bush would spend all available money to send the additional troops to Iraq, even if it meant no body armor, bullets, etc. Frank's reply was that Congress can't control HOW Bush spends the money.

Bake

[Parche]

5. Barney

He is the best

I loved when he said that they somehow found a way to get $400 Billion for this Iraq mistake,
they can find $$ for domestic programs that need it.