Democrats Vow To Continue Their Anti-Troop Movement

Conceding victory to President Bush in the latest battle of troop funding, Congressional Democrats vow to continue the fight when it comes to undermining our battlefield troops.

Congressional Democrats will continue their trampling of the U.S. Constitution by pushing President Bush on whether he has the authority to continue operations in Iraq.

This strategy by the Democrats involves continual and increasing pressure on the President and moderate Republicans over the issue of how long U.S. troops will be deployed in Iraq. With the Iraq war growing increasingly unpopular, Democrats believe increasing pressure will force moderate Republicans, and the President, to change course in Iraq.

"I feel a direction change in the air," said Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., chairman of the House panel that oversees military funding.

The Democrats had to drop their troop withdrawal plans from the latest troop funding bill because they knew the two thirds vote requirement to override the President was not present. However, this still did not stop Congressional Democrats from waging a vicious war with the President that once again left brave U.S. service personnel caught in the middle.

Congress did finally approved the revised $120 billion, pork laden troop funding bill on Thursday with the hopes President Bush would sign this bill before Congress takes their usual Memorial Day Holiday. The vote in the House was 280-142, and the Senate vote was 80-14.

Democratic Presidential hopefuls Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-NY, and Sen. Barack Obama, D-IL, both voted against this bill.

Sen. Clinton, sounding like a broken Democrat record, issued a statement saying she supports the troops, but this bill does not compel the President to change course in Iraq.

Sen. Obama meanwhile said enough is enough, when it comes to giving Bush a blank check so he can continue on the same ill-fated course currently being followed by the President.

The votes by Clinton and Obama appear to signal a shift in their campaign stance against withdrawing troops from Iraq because earlier in the year both thought withdrawing troops from Iraq was not a good idea.

Thursday's legislative actions concluded weeks of fighting between Congress and the White House over funding for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Bush finally won, and he did receive an extra $17 billion in funding. However, almost half of this additional funding will go to Democratic pet pork domestic projects.

"If all funding bills are going to be this partisan and contentious, it will be a very long year," Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said.

Democrats were still claiming victory over the President by saying they were successful in further pushing the debate over continued U.S. involvement in Iraq. Democrats signaled their fight against the troops will continue in October when talks about the 2008 fiscal year budget begin.

"This debate will go on," vowed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

"Senate Democrats will not stop our efforts to change the course of this war until either enough Republicans join with us to reject President Bush's failed policy or we get a new president," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said.

The Senate will start off talks about the 2008 budget by discussing a defense spending bill authorizing more than $600 billion in spending for the military. Sen. Carl Levin, D-MI, heads the Senate Armed Services Committee, and he plans on attaching language to this defense appropriations bill calling for troop withdrawals with 120 days once this spending bill is approved.

Former Ku Klux Klansman, Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.VA, said he will continue his fight for repealing the 2002 bill authorizing combat actions in Iraq.

Sen. John Warner, R-VA, issued a statement saying the security situation in Iraq needs to improve by Mid-July otherwise President Bush should seriously consider a change of direction for U.S. involvement in Iraq.

"It seems to me it's time for them (Iraqi troops) to ... step up," said Warner, R-Va.

The most critical votes for continued operations in Iraq will come in September when both houses of Congress begin debating 2008 war funding legislation. The House is planning to debate two cut and run bills- one bill deals with troop withdrawals by July 2008, and the other bill calls for repealing the authority giving the President to wage war in Iraq.

These September votes will most likely come after a visit from Gen. David Petraeus in which he will discuss whether or not the troop build-up plan is working. Also due in September is an independent assessment report outlining the progress of the Iraqi government.

"Those of us who oppose this war will be back again and again and again and again until this war has ended," said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass.

According to the GAO (Government Accountability Office), more than $300 billion spent so far on operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Therefore, the most likely action Congress should take is to stop funding these operations all together. This action is within the scope of Congressional powers granted under the Constitution, but so far the Democrats are afraid, or unwilling, to use this power granted to them.

Read more about the latest anti-troop Democratic actions at Yahoo News