Democrats Steer the War in Iraq in Fits and Starts

[DeepModem Mom]

NYT: Congressional Memo
Democrats Steer the War in Iraq in Fits and Starts
By ROBIN TONER
Published: March 10, 2007

WASHINGTON, March 9 — Over the next few weeks, the new Democratic Congressional majority will try to translate public discontent with the war in Iraq into actual policy, with a series of votes on the withdrawal of combat troops from Iraq — the party’s most consequential votes yet.

But the Democrats face some extraordinary political and institutional hurdles, which explain why Congress wades so reluctantly — and at times so achingly incrementally — into matters of war, veteran lawmakers say.

In the House, the Democratic majority stretches from nervous centrists and conservatives, reluctant to encroach on the prerogative of the commander in chief, to an antiwar contingent that wants to force the president to begin an immediate withdrawal. Democratic strategists say they hope and believe they have found a legislative formula for an Iraq spending bill that can hold that sprawling majority, with a timetable for withdrawal of American combat troops in 2008.

But it has been a close call....

***

In the Senate, it is not enough for Democrats to hold their own majority; rules require a super majority of 60 votes to force a vote on their Iraq legislation, a binding resolution that sets a “goal” for a pullout in 2008 and redefines the American mission in Iraq. That means Democrats must attract about a dozen Republicans.

And even if, by some miracle, both houses managed to pass legislation requiring a withdrawal, President Bush has clearly signaled that he intends to veto it, and the Democrats fall far short of the necessary two-thirds vote to override a veto. As a result, what is essentially happening in Congress right now is an attempt to ratchet up the political pressure — on Republican moderates, especially in the Senate, and on the president — to change course in Iraq....

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/10/washington/10memo.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper&oref=slogin

[rocktivity]

1. (Pre click prediction): "This headline has 'New York Times' written all over it."

DING DING DING!

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