Tuesday - February 06, 2007

Gridlock

Yesterday, the US Senate spent the entire day doing absolutely nothing.

Well, that’s not entirely correct. They argued back and forth all day over a non-binding resolution to voice disapproval of President Bush and the war in Iraq. The resolution would have no effect on anything and was purely intended by Democrats to poke the President in the eye.

So a meaningless proposal went down to defeat by a score of 49-47, with Republicans voting in a bloc against it (with two exceptions, Norm Coleman of Minnesota and Olympia Snow of Maine who sided with Democrats) and a few votes from the other side of the aisle standing with Republicans, like Joe Lieberman. They needed 60 votes to shove this useless piece of crap down the President’s throat. Didn’t get it.

No, most of the day was spent arguing on the floor and several Senators engaged in outright demigogery, pounding their chests and pointing their little fingers and waffling back and forth - and that was just the ridiculous show for the C-SPAN cameras. The really nasty stuff went on in back room wrangling, arm-twisting and everything short of outright blackmail and we’re not too sure of that.

This is what happens when Congress tries to run a war. I call it the Platypus Initiative, named after the most unusual animal on Earth with body parts from several animals and absolutely useless in the overall scheme of things. If the Senate continues meddling in the business of conducting war we will end up with a platypus for a solution.

And don’t even get me started on the dozens and dozens of 2008 Presidential candidates in the Senate who spent the day blowing with the wind and trying desperately to appear decisive while deciding nothing and whose ambitions teetered in the balance before the cameras.

So what was the product of yesterday’s guerilla warfare on the Senate floor? ... Absolutely nothing. Which is a good thing. Gridlock means they’re too busy to meddle in the affairs of you and me. Unfortunately it won’t stay that way. President Bush submitted the 2008 budget yesterday and it had to wait while the posturing poseurs piddled away. Now they are free to go after the budget and that means me and thee are in dire trouble. Just one word comes to mind ... taxes ...

G.O.P. Senators Block Debate on Iraq Policy
_{(NY TIMES) - February 6, 2007}

Republicans on Monday blocked Senate debate on a bipartisan resolution opposing President Bush’s troop buildup in Iraq, leaving in doubt whether the Senate would render a judgment on what lawmakers of both parties described as the paramount issue of the day.

The decision short-circuited what had been building as the first major Congressional challenge to President Bush over his handling of the war since Democrats took control of Congress last month, and left each party blaming the other for frustrating debate on a topic that is likely to influence the 2008 presidential and Congressional races.

At issue is a compromise resolution drawn up chiefly by Senator John W. Warner, Republican of Virginia, that says the Senate disagrees with President Bush’s plan to build up troops and calls for American forces to be kept out of sectarian violence in Iraq.

The deadlock came after Democrats refused a proposal by Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, that would have cleared the way for a floor fight on the Warner resolution in return for votes on two competing Republican alternatives that were more supportive of the president.

One of those alternatives, by Senator Judd Gregg, Republican of New Hampshire, would declare that Congress should not cut off any funds for forces in the field. That vote was seen as problematic for Democrats because many of them opposed any move to curtail spending, raising the prospect that it could have attracted the broadest support in the Senate.

The procedural vote, which divided mostly along party lines, left the Democratic leadership 11 votes short of the 60 needed to begin debate on the bipartisan resolution. Forty-seven Democrats and two Republicans voted to open debate on the resolution; 45 Republicans and one independent were opposed.

The Republicans run a risk with their resistance in the event Democrats are able to persuade the public that Mr. Bush’s allies are stonewalling in the Senate and shielding the president from criticism over an unpopular war. But their show of unity, with war critics including Mr. Warner of Virginia and Senator Chuck Hagel, Republican of Nebraska, siding with the leadership, lent some credibility to Republican claims that Democrats were being unfair. “I am confident that somehow this matter will be worked out,” Mr. Warner said.

But Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, said that “time was tenuous” and that he would not guarantee that Democrats would try again to bring up the resolution. He did promise that there would be more clashes over Iraq policy as the Senate turned to measures like the president’s request for $100 billion in emergency Iraq spending. “You can run but you can’t hide,” Mr. Reid told his Republican colleagues on the floor. “We are going to debate Iraq.”

- More ...

More Coverage:

The Washington Post: “GOP Stalls Debate On Troop Increase”

FOX NEWS: “Senate Fails to End Debate on Iraq Resolution”

Posted by The Skipper     on 02/06/2007 at 08:33 AM   
Filed Under: • Iraq • Politics •  
• Comments (8) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

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Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:

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It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

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