Ah yes, those "reasonable Dems" always willing to talk, as long as they can flex their muscles and not be cooperative, at all. Jerks. They continue to dishonor the President. There is no way these people should get re-elected.
Reid Compares Bush to Nixon, Byrd Tells Dems to Hang Tough
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) compared President Bush to former President Nixon today, suggesting Bush is "as isolated" now over the Iraq war as Nixon was during the Watergate scandal, reports Politico's Carrie Budoff.
Reid was responding to questions over what Senate Democrats will do if Bush, as promised, vetoes the Iraq funding bill being crafted by Congress. Bush has said he will block the legislation from becoming law because both the House and Senate versions of the legislation include withdrawal timetables for pulling U.S. troops out of Iraq.
Bush also objects to $20 billion-plus in "pork" spending programs that Democrats have included in the bill, although Democratic leaders defend the funding as need emergency spending for Hurricane Katrina victims, child health programs, and veteran care.
Bush has invited Reid and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to come to the White House next week to negotiate on a "clean" Iraq funding bill with no withdrawal language or pork spending, but Reid has said the president should instead come to Capitol Hill this Friday to meet with lawmakers.
If the president is serious, and not as isolated as people think he is, maybe he will take us up on it," Reid said of his offer to meet with Bush on Capitol Hill. Reid and Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) sent a letter to Bush today repeating the invitation, which Democrats first raised in late March.
"The president is as isolated, I believe, on the Iraq issue as Richard Nixon was when he was hunkered down in the White House."
When asked whether he would accept a funding bill with political benchmarks for the Iraqi government but no withdrawal language, Reid said he would insist on specified deadlines for redeployment and withdrawal from Iraq because both the House and Senate have approved such requirements.
On whether he is willing to compromise on an Iraq bill, Reid threw the issue back on the president, saying Bush "doesn't seem to understand" that he needs to compromise with Congress.
"It can't be his way or no way," said Reid of Bush. "So the president has to understand he has to sit down for the first time in six years and realize there is another branch of government up here speaking for the American people."
Senate Democrats on Tuesday were also exhorted by Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) to "hang tough" in their struggle with Bush over Iraq, according to Democratic insiders.
Byrd gave a speech to his Democratic colleagues in a closed-door meeting urging Democrats to stick to their position on withdrawing from Iraq, arguing that as a co-equal branch of government, Congress had a right to have its voice heard on the conduct of the war, said the sources. |
