How to respond to the veto threat
by kos
Mon Apr 02, 2007 at 06:48:30 PM PDT
Harry Reid shows how it's done:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Monday he will try to cut off funding for the Iraq war if President Bush rejects Congress' proposal to set a deadline for ending combat...
Bush has said several times he would veto the measure, and Republicans say they'll back him. On Monday, 154 House Republicans sent Bush a letter promising to stick with him in opposition to the legislation.Mindful that they hold a shaky majority in Congress and that neither chamber has enough votes to override a presidential veto, Democrats are already thinking about the next step after Bush rejects their legislation.
Reid said Monday that if that happens, he will join forces with Sen. Russ Feingold, one of the party's most liberal members who has long called to end the war by denying funding for it. Reid and others have previously been reluctant to propose cutting funding out of fear it would leave troops in the lurch.
"Congress has a responsibility to end a war that is opposed by the American people and is undermining our national security," Feingold, D-Wis., said.
Reid said Monday he was willing to take the tougher tack in light of Bush's refusal to begin pulling out troops.
"If the president vetoes the supplemental appropriations bill and continues to resist changing course in Iraq, I will work to ensure this legislation receives a vote in the Senate in the next work period," Reid said in a statement.
Obama talks about "ratcheting up the pressure. The way to do that is to threaten even more dire circumstances than the current legislation provides.
The Iraq Supplemental + benchmarks + withdrawal plan is extremely popular with voters. If Bush gives them the finger, it'll give congressional Democrats more political leeway in approaches toward ending the war, up to and including defunding.
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