This May the funding for the troops expires and the President asked Congress to pass a bill that gives the troops the necessary resources that it needs and get it to his desk immediately. Of course the Democratic majority in the House and in the Senate as well do not support the war on terror. They want the troops to surrender Iraq to the enemy and then retreat. So why on earth would they pass a bill that gives the President the money to continue the war if they want the war to end and why on earth would Republicans vote AGAINST this bill that would give the troops the necessary resources it needs? Well, there is more to meets the eye with this bill they passed and we’re about to head bang it out right now.

Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi did not have enough votes from her own party to get the bill passed. Her own party was unhappy with the language of the bill that gave the President the right to NOT withdraw the troops from Iraq under certain circumstances so they were not going to vote for the bill. They wanted the bill to state that the troops would be forced to come home by March 2008 or around that time. They want to give the enemy the game plan. They want the enemy to know exactly what our plan would be so they could plan accordingly. Real smart. (Please sense sarcasm) So the Defeatocrats did not have the votes they needed to undermine the President, the troops and the war on terror. What does Speaker Pelosi and her co-conspirators do? THEY BRIBED THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES! That’s right – they bribed their colleagues and got them to vote for the passing of the bill. Let me explain…

There is a thing in politics and in writing bills and laws that they call “pork” and what that is basically is adding on additional things to the bill to get other agendas passed along with the main agenda of the bill. So what this means is that the President would get the money he asked for but the Defeatocrats would add on the surrender of Iraq to the enemy for starters. Now to the bribe. The defeatocrats who were not going to vote for the war needed to be stroked. Speaker Pelosi and her co-criminals came up with the idea to find out what they could add to this bill to get the votes they needed. What happens next is a complete disgrace to our country and a slap in the face of every man and woman who serves our country. The defeatocrats added on over 20 BILLION dollars in pork that has nothing to do with the war on terror!!!!! They got funding included for domestic issues such as funding spinach farms in the United States! What the hell does that have to do with the war on terror? Absolutely nothing. But there are some democrats out there that have on their agenda the funding of spinach. I’m not saying we shouldn’t fund spinach but to use it as a bribe to get someone to vote for a bill is downright despicable!

So now it’s a little clearer why Republicans voted against this bill. First off they do not, nor do I, think its wise to set a timetable for withdrawal that allows the enemy to know our plans and tells our allies that we wont stand by them through thick and thin. Its just plain stupid. Secondly, the Republicans are not going to stand by and allow these morally bankrupt Democrats to micromanage a war. That is the job of the Commander in Chief and his military leaders on the ground. It is NOT the job of Congress to tell the President how to run a war. If these Democrats were so against the war why are they not voting to cut off funding? This would ensure the troops would have to leave Iraq. Why wont they do it? They don’t have the moral courage to do it. They know losing the war would help them secure a better shot at the White House in 2008 and that would give them complete control over the government – the same thing they cried about for 6 years under the Bush administration.

There are a number of sad things related to this bill and one is that once again these morally bankrupt Defeatocrats have wasted taxpayers money. There is ZERO chance of this bill passing through the Senate and then getting to the Presidents desk where he’s just going to use his veto power to file it under “G” for GARBAGE. It was only a week or 2 ago that the Senate themselves voted AGAINST a bill that calls for a timetable to surrender. What a colossal waste of time and what a waste of our taxpayer dollars that these Defeatocrats call a PAYCHECK. That’s right folks, we are paying these people to undermine our President and then paying them to waste time. What a job! This tactic is greatly undermining the war on terror. It is emboldening the enemy and tying our Presidents hands in trying to defend our way of life against Islamic fanatics that have hijacked a religion and are using it to kill innocent people. You don’t agree with me? Lets ask the Secretary of Defense what he thinks about this bill that has ZERO chance of becoming law. Defense Secretary Robert Gates warned that if Congress fails to pass a measure funding the war efforts by April 15, it will slow down training of troops scheduled for future deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. Gates says it would also delay repair of equipment.

So like we said this was a waste of time. The Senate would need like 12-14 Republicans to shift sides on this topic and join the Democrats to give them the 60 votes they need to pass the bill. Its not going to happen. Not only will they not get the Republican Senators to vote for it but they will lose some Democrats in the process that will vote against it also. Lets take a look at what Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman says about withdrawal: “Deadliens set by Congress in war are deadlines for defeat." It’s not that difficult to understand.

I’ll end this column by making sure you know who the two Republicans who voted in favor of this disgusting bill are: Walter Jones from North Carolina and Wayne Gilchrest from Maryland. Along with the other 216 members of the House of Representatives you should all be ashamed of yourselves. Playing politics with the troops is disgusting.

Latas!
Mike Zevon
The 5 Foota
MikeZevon@hotmail.com

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