A plan for the dems

[frogcycle]

I heard a caller on Air America suggest that once the pres vetoes the spending supplemental, they should send it back verbatim, except they should break it down into separate bills, and send them allback at once. Effectively thid gives * the line-item veto in this one case. Then he can sign the funding, veto the deadline, and will have to decide whether to sign or veto peanut farmer subsidies and such (which is immaterial).

That gets the spending authorized without further delay, defusing that talking point. But ultimately, the veto of the deadline would be all over him. Word it very simply. Just say that the American involvement in combat operations will be turned over gradually to the Iraqis, starting (date) and to be completed by (date) "unless circumstances dictate change, which must be authorized by Congress." That last gives them the leverage - all it really is is an instruction to the Iraqis that they are getting the helm, with a clear schedule so they can plan for it and be ready. The loophole makes veto completely inappropriate - no excuses. It says if you can make a good case in 6 months that the timetable needs tweaking, then we'll talk. So if the deadline is looming but progress actually is being made and "a little more time" indeed DOES make sense, no problem. Vetoing that just says "I refuse to be accountable to anyone for anything." And says "fuck you" to the troops. It could be that the Senate would not pass this, just as it would not pass the non-binding resolution. But those pug Senators will have to defend themselves if they block it. Reid should introduce it repeatedly. And if they can't get a cloture vote, he should bring it to the floor for debate anyway, and force individual senators to actually filibuster. Get them on the news reading recipes or whatever. Embarrass the living shit out of them. I think there are plenty of them who are hiding behind each other's skirts. At least one has to go up their on camera and drone on, with the message being, to everyone, "I am doing this solely to prevent there being a goal to get out of a combat role in Iraq - ever." And, by the way, Reid is sitting on the funding bill while this goes on.

What you want to bet his office would start hearing from military families?

[Demeter]

1. And The Country Gets What, Exactly? Forget This!

The GOP is dying on facts; they can have all the "talking points" they can invent. The facts are what's killing them, and they don't get to make those up any more, now that Congress can subpoena..

[frogcycle]

2. I admire your optimism