Hoyer on Hardball, just listed 6 things the Democrats were going to tackle.

[Beelzebud]

The word "Iraq" was not among any of the 6 points.

The Washington Dems better not let me down...

[movonne]

1. Oh! but the will....

[WilliamPitt]

2. Yeah

It was probably really stupid, useless, feckless, irresponsible stuff like raising the minimum wage, fixing the prescription catastrophe in Medicare, ending subsidies for big oil (and that has nothing to do with Iraq, right), stopping the warrantless wiretapping, keeping far-right wackos off the federal bench, making sure Social Security doesn't get privatized, implementing the 9/11 Commission recommendations, etc.

Those irresponsible shitass fucks. I'm so ready to be disappointed...looking forward to it, in fact. How can I be expected to complain endlessly if my reps are actually helping people?

And, P.S., you can count on Iraq being addressed on several fronts in both chambers of congress. Hoyer maybe, maaaaaaaaybe, wanted to let people know that there is more than one job at hand.

[VelmaD]

3. didn't you get the memo

If you think the single most important issue is getting out of Iraq yesterday...then you are the heart and soul of the party and everyone else is a DLC shill.

But if you care about other issues...like choice...then you're a one-issue voter and you're destroying the party.

We're obviously all too stupid to care about more than one issue at a time.

[atreides1]

4. We can look at this one of two ways

The Washington Dems are not laying out all of their plans until they actually take control in January, or we've been had and more Americans and Iraqis will shed their blood.

If it's the latter then the Repukes will make a comeback in 2008, and the Democrats will become a non-entity.

Only time will tell.

[kestrel91316]

11. Thank you. The Dems ain't tellin' what they're really gonna do.

We will find out soon enough what the real plan is once they get sworn in.

[Jackpine Radical]

5. I didn't see it, so lemme guess...

1. Establish better connections with K Street so we can open up the flow of lobbyist money to Dems

2. Assure the health care industry we really didn't mean it when we threatened them with a single-payer health care system

3. Double defense aid to Israel to lock in the Jewish vote

4. Sponsor bipartisan legislation with key Republicans to penalize possession of marijuana with the death penalty

5. Propose legislation to give grants to the oil companies to develop alternative energy

6. Outsource defense planning to a special task force composed of Halliburton and Carlyle executives

...Am I close?

[OzarkDem]

6. Its on Speaker Polosi's list

so it should be on Hoyer's too.

[tridim]

7. Call Hoyer's office and let him know how you feel.

I'm going to, even though I know the Dems are still focused on getting out of Iraq ASAP.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

8. Nor Should It Have Been, Nor Would I Have Expected It To Have Been.

If based on this you are already seriously guarded about being let down, then I can't help but to think that maybe your expectations are not of sound reality.

[babylonsister]

9. I could have sworn I heard him mention Waxman, Dingall and

their investigations into war profiteering.

[Individualist]

10. Very telling

Iraq was the #1 issue with voters on Nov. 7, but it's not even on Hoyer's agenda. Why am I not surprised?

[OzarkDem]

12. This guy is a rogue Dem

he's not to be trusted.

He's already trying to talk as though he is in charge of the Dem agenda in Congress. Pelosi needs to smack him down right away.

Call him and call your congressperson and tell him to STFU and work with the Dems.

[alfredo]

13. Were those legislative goals? Iraq issue will be addressed through

investigations. bush is looking for political cover so he can cut and run. Let's see what the Baker commission reports.

Not much can be done through legislation. They could cut off funding, but that is risky because bush and his allies would let the soldiers go without food medicine and ammo just to make a point. There are ways to get the troops out that doesn't expose the measures to a certain fillabuster in the Senate.

[emulatorloo]

14. Can we save the premature disappointment until the new congress takes office?

EOM

[OzarkDem]

15. Actually no

Genie is out of the bottle.

[emulatorloo]

16. Lots of people real upset over things that haven't happened yet

Monday was footstamping day over what some Senator might do, Tuesday was wild reaction to media spin on Democrats day, Wednesday I took the day off, so that was rest day at least for me.

[Buck Rabbit]

17. Dems STILL have virtually no direct say about Iraq, No?

Bush is still the C.I.C.

The only way I know that the Dems can directly have an impact on Iraq is to cut the purse strings, but Pelosi and every Dem Rep I have heard other than Dennis K, has said that is off the table because you can't cut financial support while the troops are still there. I personally agree with Dennis (almost always do) but it isn't going to happen.

Impeachment won't work either. You might get it through the House but you couldn't get a conviction in the Senate. Not enough Dems and some Dems, like the Nelsons and Joe would vote with the Republicans.

Even if you dug up a smoking gun on Bush and Cheney that not even the GOPs in the Senate could ignore it still wouldn't get Pelosi in the White house. Cheney would step down with a bad heart and an unimpeachable replacement (McCain or Jeb or Frist) would be put in as a buffer against Pelosi. Republicans in the Senate would insist on confirmation of a new Republican VP as a condition of a guilty vote on impeachment.

The most the Dems can practically do is keep pointing out the failure that Iraq is and make it such an issue for the 2008 elections that Republicans demand that Bush withdrawal. Whether he would listen to them is not a sure thing, but it is the best bet for a withdraw before January 2009.

That or the Iraqi government tells us to leave. I bet Bush would jump on that in a heartbeat. I could write his speech for him: "We would have won if they had let us stay to finish the job but we have to respect the sovereign democratically elected government of Iraq. So you see we won by leaving, see, we spread democracy."

Am I missing something? Is there any way the Dems can legislate us out of Iraq without cutting the purse strings on it?