Sixty Nine Democrats and Ron Paul Write The President A Letter

Sixty Nine Democrats and Ron Paul have written the President a letter telling him they will not vote for any more money for Iraq not tied to withdrawing the troops. According to the Crypt's Blog at Politico.Com this is a big deal. Nancy Pelosi's grip over the mostly liberal Democrats is slipping.

Here is the letter:

Dear Mr. President:

We are writing to inform you that we will only support appropriating additional funds for U.S. military operations in Iraq during Fiscal Year 2008 and beyond for the protection and safe redeployment of all our troops out of Iraq before you leave office.

More than 3,600 of our brave soldiers have died in Iraq. More than 26,000 have been seriously wounded. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have been killed or injured in the hostilities and more than 4 million have been displaced from their homes. Furthermore, this conflict has degenerated into a sectarian civil war and U.S. taxpayers have paid more than $500 billion, despite assurances that you and your key advisors gave our nation at the time you ordered the invasion in March, 2003 that this military intervention would cost far less and be paid from Iraqi oil revenues.

We agree with a clear and growing majority of the American people who are opposed to continued, open-ended U.S. military operations in Iraq, and believe it is unwise and unacceptable for you to continue to unilaterally impose these staggering costs and the soaring debt on Americans currently and for generations to come.

Sincerely,

Rep. Lynn Woolsey (CA); Rep. Barbara Lee (CA); Rep. Maxine Waters (CA); Rep. Ellen Tauscher (CA); Rep. Rush Holt (NJ); Rep. Maurice Hinchey (NY); Rep. Diane Watson (CA); Rep. Ed Pastor (AZ); Rep. Barney Frank (MA); Rep. Danny Davis (IL); Rep. John Conyers (MI); Rep. John Hall (NY); Rep. Bob Filner (CA); Rep. Nydia Velazquez (NY); Rep. Bobby Rush (IL); Rep. Charles Rangel (NY); Rep. Ed Towns (NY); Rep. Paul Hodes (NH); Rep. William Lacy Clay (MO); Rep. Earl Blumenauer (OR); Rep. Albert Wynn (MD); Rep. Bill Delahunt (MA); Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC); Rep. G. K. Butterfield (NC); Rep. Hilda Solis (CA); Rep. Carolyn Maloney (NY); Rep. Jerrold Nadler (NY); Rep. Michael Honda (CA); Rep. Steve Cohen (TN); Rep. Phil Hare (IL); Rep. Grace Flores Napolitano (CA); Rep. Alcee Hastings (FL); Rep. James McGovern (MA); Rep. Marcy Kaptur (OH); Rep. Jan Schakowsky (IL); Rep. Julia Carson (IN); Rep. Linda Sanchez (CA); Rep. Raul Grijalva (AZ); Rep. John Olver (MA); Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (TX); Rep. Jim McDermott (WA); Rep. Ed Markey (MA); Rep. Chaka Fattah (PA); Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (NJ); Rep. Rubin Hinojosa (TX); Rep. Pete Stark (CA); Rep. Bobby Scott (VA); Rep. Jim Moran (VA); Rep. Betty McCollum (MN); Rep. Jim Oberstar (MN); Rep. Diana DeGette (CO); Rep. Stephen Lynch (MA); Rep. Artur Davis (AL); Rep. Hank Johnson (GA); Rep. Donald Payne (NJ); Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (MO); Rep. John Lewis (GA); Rep. Yvette Clarke (NY); Rep. Neil Abercrombie (HI); Rep. Gwen Moore (WI); Rep. Keith Ellison (MN); Rep. Tammy Baldwin (WI); Rep. Donna Christensen (USVI); Rep. David Scott (GA); Rep. Luis Gutierrez (IL); Lois Capps (CA); Steve Rothman (NJ); Elijah Cummings (MD); and Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX).

Blue Girl, Emanuel Cleaver is one of the determined Democrats.

There's more: "Sixty Nine Democrats and Ron Paul Write The President A Letter" >>

Rep. Rahm Emanual To Vice President Dick Cheney--Hey, Mr. 4th Branch, You Want To Fund Your Office, Send Us An Appropriations Bill

Here is an interesting idea courtesy of Atrios.

Washington, D.C. House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel
issued the following statement regarding his amendment to cut funding
for the Office of the Vice President from the bill that funds the
executive branch. The legislation -- the Financial Services and General
Government Appropriations bill -- will be considered on the floor of
the House of Representatives next week.

"The Vice President has a choice to make. If he believes his legal
case, his office has no business being funded as part of the executive
branch. However, if he demands executive branch funding he cannot
ignore executive branch rules. At the very least, the Vice President
should be consistent. This amendment will ensure that the Vice
President's funding is consistent with his legal arguments. I have
worked closely with my colleagues on this amendment and will continue
to pursue this measure in the coming days."

There's more: "Rep. Rahm Emanual To Vice President Dick Cheney--Hey, Mr. 4th Branch, You Want To Fund Your Office, Send Us An Appropriations Bill" >>

Clinton and Obama Vote No

Both Clinton and Obama voted No on the war funding supplemental. Both waited tell near the end to figure which way they needed to vote. Neither demonstrated any leadership. Richardson is looking better all the time. So is Edwards. How about Dodd. At least he tried.

If you want to read their self congratulatory press releases, you can find them here. Sorry Blue Girl, I call em as I see em. Right now neither Barack nor Hillary looks particularly presidential. I think I predicted this earlier in the day.

There's more: "Clinton and Obama Vote No" >>

John Kerry Will Vote No on Supplemental

I just got an email from John Kerry. He is going to vote "NO" on the Harry Reid Surrender Bill. I guess he wants to get out of town, so voting "NO" is all he seems prepared to do. As predicted, no filibuster. Just give up the fight, vote a polite "no" and enjoy the weekend. Here is the entire email.

Hi Corpus Juris
The compromise supplemental will probably be presented to the Senate later today, but I wanted to drop a quick note to let all of you know my thoughts on it. I'm voting against it. I explain my feelings in a post I put up on the blog Daily Kos.

You can read it here.

Here are the first couple of paragraphs:

Let's be really clear about the Iraq vote coming down the pike in Congress this week.
I'm voting no on this bill. I'm tired of the false choices of Republicans and all the recycled spin of old battles and the political calculations that do nothing for our troops who bear the real costs of this war. Bottom line: we support the troops by getting the policy right, and this bill doesn't do that. I've said it again and again and I'm not about to stop: we need a deadline to force Iraqis to stand up for Iraq and bring our heroes home, not watered down benchmarks and blank check waivers for this President. We support the troops by funding the right mission, not with a White House that opposes a pay raise for our brave men and women in uniform. Do we need to bring out the hand puppets and make the case again?

Thanks for all of your help so far in this fight. I'm disappointed in the compromise bill, but I'm more convinced than ever that we'll win this fight.

John Kerry

Paid for by John Kerry for Senate.

If you live in Massachusetts you might want to write him. Here is an address--John Kerry for Senate, 129 Portland St. Suite 500 Boston, MA 02114-2014, U.S.A.

There's more: "John Kerry Will Vote No on Supplemental" >>

Nancy Pelosi Does Back Flip

If, like me, you have been watching the Democrats in Congress surrender to the President you know that one of the chief surrender monkeys is Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House. Ultimately she is the House Democrat who decided to allow the surrender to go forward. Deciding what legislation goes forward is her job. That's why she was elected speaker.

Nancy Pelosi has announced that she might not vote for the portion of the bill granting the President everything he wants. In a craven act of pure political cowardice apparently she is going to vote against the bill that she helped craft. I wonder why? Maybe because she realized that in November the people told the Democrats loud and clear to get us the hell out of Iraq. Maybe because she realizes her district in San Francisco will probably never elect her to anything again if she votes for the Harry Reid Surrender Bill, the bill she helped craft and allowed to move forward. A true one and a half surrender monkey back flip. A real profile in courage.

All you folks in San Francisco, are you still proud of Nancy?

There's more: "Nancy Pelosi Does Back Flip" >>

A Good Compromise For Funding The Troops?

John Avarosis has come up with a great Iraq compromise idea. The President has loudly announced that he wants to wait until September to see if the "surge" is working. OK, Congress funds the troops to September 30. Not a day longer. If early in September the President can convince Congress the surge is working, Congress will consider spending more money. If he can't, the troops come home immediately. Power of the purse, Baby, power of the purse.

There's more: "A Good Compromise For Funding The Troops?" >>