Bush got his money approved, and vetoed the bill even though there were not any binding constraints on the use of the money. He did it as a childish act of defiance. Now, of course, the right wing opinion monkeys will clamor for him to be given the "clean bill" he deserves.
Well, the Shrubster has been playing pretend War President for four years, and has not once submitted a budget to pay for it. When the Republicans controlled Congress, he depended on a yearly supplemental, because it allowed the Administration to pretend that we weren’t actually borrowing the money to pay for the war. The official deficit does not reflect supplemental spending. It is like secret account that some men use to entertain their concubines and pay for the hookers. W would never be so dishonorable. He just gets off on the killin’.
If the Democrats want to fight to win, they should take a tough stand. I know there are the DINO’s. They can’t be counted on, and there are too many of them. This is an opportunity for the progressives to assert some common sense into the process and earn the respect they deserve.
Every new bill to support the war should be more unpalatable to Bush than the last. The first bill WAS the compromise, each new one should be harder to swallow. Here are a few examples:
(1) Include the repeal of the obviously unconstitutional parts of the Patriot Act and Military Commissions Act. Reassert the Magna Charta and the Geneva Conventions as controlling law. Make Bush choose between the welfare of the troops, and the pissing away of our Constitutional protections of human rights.
(2) Pay as you go. The supplemental bill will not depend on borrowed money. The bill will be paid for by repeal of the vaunted tax cuts for the rich. Forget dropping the inheritance tax, raise the rates on top earners to cover every cent. Of course, this is a veto magnet. It’s great, because Bush will have to show who he really cares about, and it’s not some working class soldier who signed up because there was no other foreseeable way to pay for college.
(3) Federal funding of stem cell research. Why not. It includes his only other veto. He can veto it again.
The point is, my friends, that we don’t respect Bush. He should be impeached, or forced to resign. It would be a tragedy to allow this Administration to dissolve into history as a normal transition. Bush is worse than a fool. His administration is the most corrupt and destructive to the interests of America in history. He should not be permitted to forget that. A prison term will help.