Posted on 11/16/2007 7:58:00 AM PST by rightinthemiddle
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate on Friday blocked a Republican proposal to pay $70 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan without strings attached.
The 53-45 vote was 15 votes short of the 60 needed to advance.
The measure was aimed at countering Democratic legislation that also would bankroll the operations, but would additionally require that troops start coming home in 30 days.
The Democratic bill, passed by the House on Wednesday, set a goal of ending combat by December 2008.
"We need to get the funds to the troops and we need to do it now," said Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the only way to get troops the money was to approve the restrictions outlined by Democrats.
"Anything else is political posturing," said Reid.
Democrats also were expected to fall short of the 60 votes needed to advance their bill.
Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said this week that if Congress cannot pass legislation that ties war money to troop withdrawals, they would not send Bush a bill this year.
Instead, they would revisit the issue upon returning in January, pushing the Pentagon to the brink of an accounting nightmare and deepening Democrats' conflict with the White House on the war.
In the meantime, Democrats say, the Pentagon can eat into its $471 billion annual budget without being forced to take drastic steps.
"The days of a free lunch are over," said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday that unless Congress passes funding for the war within days, he will direct the Army and Marine Corps to begin developing plans to lay off employees and terminate contracts early next year.
(Excerpt) Read more at ap.google.com ...
Gates should cherry pick the contracts to be terminated. I would suggest starting with those in Reid’s state and Pelosi’s district. This is the best way to pressure these turkeys.
This is simply too much. That any supposed "Journalists" let this clown loft up this absurd softball without asking him "and what was bringing up 40 votes on Iraq you know going in you are going to lose"?
I’ll bet Lugar was also one of them.
And you know what they say about a cornered animal.
I don't like to think about this stuff too much. It just worries the hell out of me.
I don't want to be an alarmist, but I think these people are really dangerous. What might they do as the wheels come off? I fear for our soldiers in harm's way. The left will pull the rug out from under them, then laugh as they are humiliated and killed.
No...
What’s driving this is a desperate attempt at appeasement to the moonbat base after DEMOCRATS killed the Impeachment.
They think they can go home, and let this simmer over the Holidays. And they are probably right, since thier allies in the MSM will play it up for them.
Democrats are desperate for an ISSUE that hides Hillary’s failure, and flip-flopping...
More here:
Competing bills failed.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119522582120495791.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
And believe me, the report's title does not mean bring home the troops. It is a testament to the wonderful work our brave men and women of our armed forces have done and continue to do, at least until the RATs pull the rug out from under them.
If enough Americans understood what has been achieved and how the democRATs are going to throw it all in the toilet, they'd run Pelosi, Nurtha and Reid out of Washington on a rail, covered in tar and feathers.
It was Smith (RINO-OR), Snowe (RINO-ME), Collins (RINO-ME), and Hagel (A**HAT-NE).
Not necessarily. 53 to 45 means all the Republicans, plus 4 Democrats may have voted for this. 45 Nay votes sustained the filibuster. Those could all be Democrats.
"Anything else is political posturing," said Reid.
That's the stupidest damn thing I've ever heard in my life. He's blatantly posturing and saying anything else is posturing.
If a single soldier is killed because they lacked the funding and equipment due to political posturing mr reid I will hold you PERSONALLY responsible.
I read that, and that’s what’s driving my anxiety. The Michael Yon article, and others like it, has got to be driving the left into a frenzy. They are coming out on the wrong side of the dynamic; they are so far out in the cold they can’t even see the front porch.
Did even one Demo senator vote the right way? I hope perhaps Lieberman did. I will be eager to see the roll call on this.
How maddening to think if Republicans could have rallied only about 10,000 more voters to their side in VA and MT last year, they would still have the majority. Then most likely these signals to the enemy that we are a divided nation and don’t have the will to fight wouldn’t even come up for a vote.
...and RINO Voinavich!
Here is the vote on the Democrat bill. RINOS Snow, Hagel and Smith voted with the Dims. Cannot find a vote on the Republican bill
I’ve found two articles from the AP...they seem similar, but one is covering the Republican measure and the other the Democrat measure.
Both were defeated by the same vote. The AP sucks so bad...they could be using the “headline” game to portray this as a Democrat win.
Yes Leiberman voted to block the Dems vote on the “Surrender Now” House Bill, cannot find a vote tally on this Republican bill
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