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Congressional Democrats Bribing For Iraq Votes

by

This is disgusting and pathetic.

House Democratic leaders are offering billions in federal funds for lawmakers’ pet projects large and small to secure enough votes this week to pass an Iraq funding bill that would end the war next year.

So far, the projects — which range from the reconstruction of New Orleans levees to the building of peanut storehouses in Georgia — have had little impact on the tally. For a funding bill that establishes tough new readiness standards for deploying combat forces and sets an Aug. 31, 2008, deadline to bring the troops home, votes do not come cheap.

Some conservative Democrats who had been expected to vote no on Thursday are wavering.

To get them off the fence and on the bill, Democrats have a key weapon at their disposal: cold, hard cash. The bill contains billions for agriculture and drought relief, children’s health care and Gulf Coast hurricane recovery.

Um… I thought the Democrats had a “mandate” on Iraq?  Why do they need to buy votes?  And why are they loading pork projects on the backs of our Armed Forces?

One of Glenn Reynolds’ readers at Instapundit wrote: “Coalition of the bribed! I heard that somewhere, once.”

Indeed.  “Most ethical Congress in history.”  More like most morally and patriotically bankrupt Congress in history!

Comments

  1. Sounds like there’s been some arm-twisting by the Pelosicrats, probably complete with some dirt from the secret FBI files the Clintons stole way back when. (Nobody still knows what happened to those files from 1998, you know.)

    Bruce, you nailed it – “coalition of the bribed.” Nothing further needs to be said.

    Regards,
    Peter H.

  2. Is it a bribe so much as a blackmail?

    If the “billions for agriculture and drought relief, children’s health care and Gulf Coast hurricane recovery” are part of the Iraq funding bill that will “end the war next year” then anyone who votes against it opens themselves up to “he voted against building levies”, “she voted against children’s health care” charges which could be difficult to deal with.

    I wonder, though, if they think that voters are too stupid to realize what is going on?

    In a sense it’s what is *expected* of horsetrading politics, sort of the way that Pelosi might have been *expected* to demand obedience when she became speaker. But I can’t think that it’s going to go over well with *anyone*.

    But maybe that’s just my naive optimism.

  6. Bruce, let it be said that never has so much been given to so many in pursuit of so little.

    But really, guy, the conservatives in Congress before the New Democrat Regime came in DID exactly the same thing for their Caucus’ pet agenda items… the White House has done it for years… etc.

    It’s why we need to term limit Congress and give the Prez a Line-Item Veto.

  7. You know what this is so much crap. Any polititian who can’t explain to his voters that he/she voted against a bill cause it was loaded with unnecessary pork ins’t worth their salt. Is the electorate so dumb that they can’t make a distinction? Same with the Pres, veto some of this crap and demand a clean highway bill, a clean troops bill. And demand this Congress work a little harder and do their jobs by not loading up one bill with stuff that belongs elsewhere. The country needs a civics lesson and God forbid our schools could actually teach someone about how the legislative process is suppose to work. Without corruption and pork that is.

  8. What did Glenn say, something like, it’s like the Republicans only full speed ahead?

    Absolutely we should have a line-item veto. If congress wants something bad enough they can fund it separately and over ride a veto.

  9. Synova, Congress did pass a line-item veto law in 1995 per the Contract With America as envisioned by Speaker Newt Gingrich. It was actually used by Clinton. (Insert Monica joke here.)

    However, the Supreme Court, in its infinite wisdom (sarcasm), declared the line-item veto as unconstitutional, citing separation of powers.

    The only way to have the line-item veto reestablished is by an amendment to the Constitution. Wonder if the Dhimmicrats would even bother with bringing this to the floor of both the House and Senate….

    Regards,
    Peter H.

  10. I hate this stuff. “Build me a school in my district and I’ll vote for the war bill.” “Build me a fishery or a refinery or a museum in honor of my humility and I’ll vote for your blankety-blank overhaul.” One more reason to distrust politicians (anyone remember the games played with the Medicare bill? Holding the vote open, the “we’ll help elect your son if you vote our way” debacle). No one expects politics to be run like a kindergarten, but couldn’t they pretend to be ethical about it?

  12. Man: miss, will you have sex with me for $1,000,000?
    Womn: yes
    Man: miss, will you have sex with me for $1?
    Woman: what do you think I am?
    Man: We know what you are, we are just negotiating on price.

    This old joke really seems to fit this situation.

  13. Considering the implications of this vote and what it might mean to their voters back home, this is a cover. It isn’t a stupid political move for Pelosi and the party si worried about holding those conservative districts they snagged during the 06 election. Those democrats can atleast use the money for those projects to smooth over the things with voters because thats how people think.

    He got our roads and schools fixed, who cares what else he voted for. all politics being local has its pros and cons, especially when it comes to foreign policy. Iraq is not on everyone’s mind and most people don’t spend their days thinking about it. They will be much happier with their new public works, pork makes voters happy. I know as much as people like to complain about government spending, they don’t mind when it comes to them.

    It’s the not most ethical, but it isn’t unethical…in the world of politics.

  14. What sort of brain cell can rationalize this?

    Let’s see, I’m a Democrat and I oppose the war because 1) it’s a waste of our blood and treasure, 2) we’re making life much worse for the Iraqis and others in the Middle East, and 3) this war is all about enriching BushCheneyHitler’s buddies at Halliburton. Given that the war is killing thousands and costing us billions, I should vote to defund it.

    Oh, but wait, I can deliver largesse to some peanut farmers or ranchers in my district? Where do I sign?

  17. So mich for the “100 hours”.
    So much for “ethical reform”.
    So much in-deed for pork and earmarks.

    Do the Dhimmicrats have a political death-wish for 2008?

  19. #17 People have been more than disgusted with the Republicans when it came to pork spending. Now maybe it was beyond foolish to hope for something different, hope that someone got the “shape up or else” message, but without hope, what is life worth?

  20. Here is what Sens. Harkin, Obama and Durbin are telling the little people in my area about the lack of funding for various projects (these are clips from local papers):

    We’re in a very terrible budget crunch because of funding $8 billion a month — roughly about $100 billion a year, for the war in Iraq,” Harkin said. “We’re also having huge budget deficits, so we want to get our budget back into balance. It’s going to make it very tough to get a lot of things communities want and need.”

    Obama echoed the same sentiments in a written statement sent by e-mail, blaming the war and the Bush administration’s “fiscal recklessness” for the budget crunch.

    Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, praised the region’s cohesiveness, but was blunt about the prospects for any local project winning all the money requested.

    “There’s not going to be enough money to go around, trust me,” he told the group.

    Sen. Durbin stressed that money will be scarce this year because of the $100 billion Congress is preparing to approve for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

  21. Synova: It sure will be interesting to see how the Perfect Party handles all the demands put on it but the various Extreme Left groups that constitutue it.

  23. Do the Dhimmicrats have a political death-wish for 2008?

    No, just the fact that their philosophy happens to be, “anything goes, as long as it’s anti-Bush”.

    Thuggo Murtha is a prime example; he’s so far gone he believes that he can sabotage the troops financially and everyone will support him because it’s anti-Bush.

  24. I wonder, though, if they think that voters are too stupid to realize what is going on?

    You’re not SUPPOSED to realize what’s going on. You’re supposed to be watching the 3-ring circus of global warming, Valerie Wilson and U.S. Attorney-gate.

    Meanwhile, you’re getting anally gang-raped by Pelosi pork and Conrad’s record breaking tax hikes sans the lube. Further, you’re supposed to ENJOY it and beg for more.

  26. I think we can all agree that the tactics of using pork and other money to win over votes is underhanded, and conversatives were anger about how republicans imployed the same tactics…or I hope you all would be. Politicans are not perfect and the enviroment makes it extremely hard to be ethical, it is a bubble enviroment afterall.

    Tax hikes? I was unaware the congress had begun rasing taxes, considering that would take Republican senate support to get through…

  29. Looks like more Americans disapprove of Congress now than they did back when the GOP was mismanaging it..

    According to Gallup’s monthly update on job approval of Congress — in a March 11-14, 2007, national poll — 28% of Americans approve of the job being done by Congress and 64% disapprove. This marks a substantial change from January and February, with approval down nine points and disapproval up nine points

  31. What, nothing about Garrison Keillor’s recent statement? Sheesh, I figured that there’d not only be an article here, but that the trolls would have filled the comment thread with “Hate speech! Hate speech! Homophobia!”

  34. Garrison Keillor said WHAT??? Oh my oh my oh my….

    So when is HRC going to call for him to go into rehab?

    Frankly, I’d rather read P.J. O’Rourke. No contest in who is a better folk writer. GK couldn’t polish PJ’s shoes.

    Regards,
    Peter H.

  38. http://ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=259283226465864

    An American Beslan?
    By INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Tuesday, March 20, 2007 4:20 PM PT

    Homeland Security: As Democrats hold more silly hearings to embarrass Republicans, the FBI is warning local police to be alert for Muslim extremists hijacking school buses. Reality check, please.

    We wonder if any of the grandstanding politicians on Capitol Hill are thinking in terms of one of these nuts driving a fertilizer-filled yellow bus up to a government building — or, easier yet, a school. Of course not. They’re too busy swooning over Valerie Plame to even notice we’re still under threat from the Islamic terrorists they say we shouldn’t be spying on.

    The FBI and Homeland Security Department last week sent out a bulletin to law enforcement across the country warning that Muslims with “ties to extremist groups” are signing up to be school bus drivers. They also noted “recent suspicious activity” by foreigners who drive school buses or are licensed to drive them.

    Recent events come on top of several other school bus-related incidents involving Mideast men that raise suspicion of terror activity.

    They include last year’s surprise boarding of a school bus in Florida by two Saudi men dressed in trench coats. Authorities suspect they were making a dry run to see how easy it would be to hijack or blow up a school bus filled with American children.

    Previously, an Arab man from Detroit was caught trying to obtain a job as a school bus driver in New York using fake Social Security documents.

    Authorities fear the school massacre that took place in Beslan, Russia, in 2004 may be a dress rehearsal for what al-Qaida plans to do here. Chechen terrorists tied to al-Qaida seized a building in Beslan on the first day of school and slaughtered 338, including 172 kids.

    Three years later, schools and local police in this country are still unprepared to deal with such an assault. Most don’t have response plans for handling a single active shooter, let alone a cell of trained terrorists.

    Yet terror cells secreted inside America may be planning to use buses as a Trojan horse to infiltrate school campuses and murder students and teachers. Floor plans for schools in Virginia, Texas and New Jersey have been recovered from terrorist hands in Iraq. Videotapes confiscated in Afghanistan show al-Qaida terrorists practicing the takeover of a school.

    Simultaneous attacks on schools in multiple states would follow Osama bin Laden’s goal of crippling the U.S. economy. If multiple schools were hit, parents would drop out of the work force en masse to protect their children.

    A prolonged labor disruption would cost businesses billions of dollars in lost revenue.

    It’s a grim picture. But don’t think for a moment that al-Qaida is above targeting school children. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed said in his Gitmo confession that while he may not like killing kids, they’re fair game in jihad. He claims U.S. forces bombed and killed the children of bin Laden’s top deputy, Ayman Zawahiri, and arrested and “abused” his own children.

    These people have nothing better to do than sit around and think of ways to kill us and our most precious resource, our children. They have many helpers placed inside U.S. cities who canvass targets and perform other logistics for such attacks. And these people will stop at nothing to pull them off. They’re just waiting for the right time, when our guard is down.

    Are we witnessing with Muslim men trying to obtain bus licenses what some alert (but ignored) agents witnessed before 9/11 when they noticed a number of Muslim men training to obtain pilot’s licenses? Are schools and children the target of the next wave of terror attacks?

    Parents should be outraged that Washington would continue to play politics with national security. Instead of using hearings to score partisan points, Congress would best serve constituents by using that power to investigate the terror threat to schools and how best to protect our children from attack.

  42. Read this about Pelosi… wow… and these jerks think they have a case to question the President about his handling of staff…

    She has been hardest on members of the Appropriations Committee and her fellow Californians who oppose the measure. The Speaker pointedly reminded Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), a leading opponent of the bill, that she had appointed her to the Appropriations Committee, three Democratic lawmakers said.

    The message was simple, the lawmakers said: Pelosi could also remove Lee from the panel.

    During a meeting last week with appropriators, Pelosi reminded them that serving on the panel was a privilege, admonishing lawmakers from safe districts who feel they have the luxury to vote how they want without consequences — as opposed to Democrats elected in swing districts who do not, a Democratic appropriator said.

    “The meeting with appropriators was a frank and open discussion where the Speaker addressed the magnitude of the vote in committee and the need to hold the Bush administration and Iraqis accountable and bring our troops home,” Pelosi’s spokesman, Nadeam Elshami, said. “It shouldn’t be interpreted in any other manner.”

  48. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s spread legs….that’s some serious, civil dialogue going on there! Happy to see that nothing’s changed.

    And, on the substance of the original post, let’s just all admit that the war is going fabulously and that it should never, ever end. All that money the Democrats have should be spent on the war until we reach victory, whatever that looks like.

  49. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s spread legs….that’s some serious, civil dialogue going on there! Happy to see that nothing’s changed.

    Instead of coming up with this asinine comment, you should have actually read what was posted. But then honesty isn’t your strongest point, is it?

  50. The last thing I want to read about in the morning is about SanFranNan’s spread open legs. Thanks, guys! (Sarcasm)

    Markie, go to your room and stay there until you can be nice to the grown-ups on this board.

    Regards,
    Peter H.

  54. Well this evening Drudge reports the Democrat House of Reprsentatives in total and complete disaray. The whip yelling at staff something the Democrats are won’t to do, yell and scream at the hirlings. After bribing for anti war, anti troop votes, the Speaker just can’t get enough anti American votes to defund the troops. Are we at 100 hours yet?

  62. #60 – Right on, Vince.

    If the Dhimmicrats were willing to fight as hard for victory as they are fighting for defeat, the country would be much better off.

    Regards,
    Peter H.

  63. Thanks Peter. It’s always good to hear from other rational people.

    I have to console myself knowing this bill wont pass the Senate.. nor get signed into law…and that the public will make the Dems pay for their damage done to our country.

  64. No problem, Vince. You are one of the good guys.

    Townhall’s Mary Katherine Ham (another Southerner, bless her heart) has a great rundown of the 218 anti-Americans who voted for this piece of pork.

    This bill probably won’t get passed in the Senate. But if by some minor miracle it does, Bush has the veto pen ready for once in his presidency.

    What kind of message does this vote in the House send to our troops – and to the terrorists?

    Pitiful.

    Regards,
    Peter H.

  66. Of course, nobody talks about all the whining the Dhimmicrats did between 2000 and 2006 (stolen elections, hanging chads, “not all votes were counted”).

    Try again, sean.

    Regards,
    Peter H.

  68. RE: The Iranians. Does anyone feel like it is the Seventies again? Didn’t those folks offer some of our citizens an extended stay? Like, I don’t know, well over a year?

    RE: The Congress. Once again, putting the people and the troops first, above rhetoric and partisanship. We are so lucky. B.T.W, I was being sarcastic.

    RE: “So when is HRC going to call for him to go into rehab?” Is that what those telemarketing calls are? They have subsided, for some reason they seemed to have pussed out. Of course, in order for communication to occour, the person on the other end has to have the balls to actually speak, rather than sit there shivering like a c**t!

    Those are the last people in the world who should offer advice on who needs rehab. Besides, by law, it is none of their damn business!

    Ah Rehab, the salvation of us all. Maybe with Rehab I can get over the guilt I feel about buying the wrong light bulbs and flushing my toliet.

    My Rehab: Wide open throttle on a bike. Burn that carbon baby!

    Sorry so many subjects, will try and stay focused next time.

  69. I havent investigated this light bulb thing that seems so common nowadays.

    I wonder what uses the most energy… the production and use of the regular light bulb.. or the production and use of these new favorite ones.