How quickly could the Democrats stop the war if they wanted to?

[bryant69]

Poll question: How quickly could the Democrats stop the war if they wanted to?

Assuming that Congressional Democrats did everything in their power to stop the war, how quickly could they stop it, in your judgment?

Bryant
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[John Q. Citizen]

1. If the house refuses to pass a funding bill, then the war will stop. They don't have to

pass any bill, they just have to not pass a funding bill.

[bryant69]

2. How quickly could that be arranged?

Bryant

[endarkenment]

3. Six months.

By killig the appropriations bill the regime would be forced to either withdraw within six months, leave the units in Iraq with no supplies, or overtly declare the republic finished.

[LSK]

5. Bush would just squeeze money from Veterans and other areas

Thats why the Dems are fucked.

[endarkenment]

8. That would be unconstitutional.

He might do that, but in doing so the executive would force an overt constitutional crisis.

[wuushew]

11. How do you explain the partial funding of the Iraq invasion with Afghan money?

Blatantly, blatantly unconstitutional yet no one called shrub on it.

[endarkenment]

13. The war appropriations bill conventiently covers both. nt.

[Larry Allen]

6. Agreed

In fact it might be harder to get it passed than not. I doubt there is a majority behind any set of provisions. Expect some strong arm tactics by the Speaker to keep this war afloat.

[LSK]

4. they cant stop it until they get 60 Senators to agree to vote on something

That damn filibuster thingy.

[endarkenment]

7. No :wrong.

The fillibuster only affects the passage of legislation. The war is funded by a special appropriations bill. If that bill is defeated in either house, the executive branch no longer has funds to fight the war and would walk outside the constitution were it to appropriate funds from other areas to continue the war.

The fillibuster and the veto cannot alter the defeat of the legislation that enables the war. It is that simple. This is the only effective path to force an end to the war.

[LSK]

9. I used to believe that too

But now I think they would just steal the money from anywhere else (they might even get the Saudis to fund it) and that would bleed other areas dry (like veterans benefits). And they have shown that they dont give a damn about the Constitution.

Have you ever saw how large the Pentagons black budget is???

[endarkenment]

10. Nobody sees the 'black budget'

except the privileged few, so obviously I haven't seen it nor most likely have you.

However yes of course the president could walk outside the constitution and start appropriating funds from other programs to keep his war going, but in doing so he would be overtly creating a constitutional crisis. He could of course do that if positive legislation managed to get through the senate and through his veto, so this is a bit of a separate issue from 'what can congress do to end the war'.

The only effective path the congress can take to do anything is to cut the funding, as you point out the senate is currently a dead end. No positive legislation can pass.

Bring on the constitutional crisis.

[loyalsister]

12. Stop the war

or our participation?
We really don't have the power to end this war.