In case you haven't been paying attention to the news over the budget in the last week or so, ya might not know that the Democrats in Congress caved to the President yet again over Iraq. Not only did they cave, their "compromise" for letting Bush have his way in Iraq was to have $10 billion in pork projects while Bush got $70 billion to have more soldiers die in that god forsaken country. Just the news that Americans want to hear after they elected a Democratic majority to get us out of Iraq.
Thankfully David Obey of Wisconsin realized that people were getting pissed off over the Democratic Congress' actions. Of course he decided to blame Republicans (who always deserve some credit for failing to compromise) for the budget snafu, but at least he was taking a positive step for the nation.
From RawStory:
House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, D-Wis., said he might abandon an effort with moderate Republicans to split the differences between increases sought by Democrats and the strict budget submitted by President Bush in February.
Instead, Obey said, he would rip up the compromise bill and devise a new one using the strict spending ceiling set by Bush — but would reach it by whacking GOP priorities and stripping the measure of billions of dollars in pet projects for lawmakers in both parties.
Obey's remarks to The Associated Press came two days after White House budget director Jim Nussle promised Bush would veto Democrats' omnibus spending bill for exceeding Bush's budget by $18 billion.
Very nice David, but what about the $70 billion that Bush wants to waste in Iraq and Afghanistan? He doesn't want any part in a deal that gives that type of money to Bush's wars but unfortunately he just chairs the committee. If his omnibus bill makes it to the floor, we have to depend on Pelosi and ultimately Reid in the Senate to pass a budget that will stand up to the American people. Reid and Pelosi however, think that the most important person to impress is George Bush. They obviously do not get it.
It isn't unfair to bash our Democratic leaders, either of them have given us no reason to have faith that they will lead us out of Iraq. Until they have the guts to stand up to a failed President, I do not expect them to fulfill their promise to the people that put them in power.
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