Compromise?!?!

I, for one, am disappointed with the outcome of the vote for the Iraq War Funding Bill. Our 2008 Democratic Presidential Candidates as well as Democratic members in the House and Senate need to reevaluate who they represent, the party or their constituents. While these Democratic members of Congress issued a vote that clearly demonstrated their party alliances, they are still out of touch with American citizens who, might not want to completely cut off funding the troops, but at least want a timeline for withdrawal in the form of benchmarks. Compromising with the GOP for fear of scrutiny during the Memorial Day break is one of the most ridiculous reasons I have heard in a while. What they need to worry about are those constituents in their district that they are going home to socialize with during the recess, and that put them into office on the basis that they would end the war.

The 2008 Democratic Presidential Candidates disappointed me a great deal, by not voting on the matter when it mattered. While Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton did vote “no” on the bill, they did so after the majority had already decided on the outcome. Both of which declined to take a direct stance on the bill before the voting had taken place, playing the political game in hopes not to upset their supporters [covering all their bases]. I’m glad to see that Speaker Pelosi was able to have the fervor to get on television and say she would not vote for the bill. Joe Biden voted in support of this bill, because he does not agree with cutting off funding and said that we needed to protect and support the troops. True, but what better way to protect them than to have them at home safe, and with the violence escalating in Lebanon and the Navy’s show of force outside of Iranian territory it is my fear that some of these servicemen/women will not see home for a long time [if ever].

While Dodd and Kunich were strongly against the bill, and did say they would not vote for it before the vote was called for – I, for one, wasn’t too concerned because they are not the front runners for the Democratic Nomination. My biggest problem is that the president vetoed legislation that had more than sufficient funding and a timeline for withdrawal, and Congress walked away in defeat. If they really wanted some closure on the issue before the Memorial Day weekend they should have kept shoving the May 1^st Bill into the Presidents face until he signed it, placing the burden on his shoulders and not theirs. The fact that Harry Reid and the Democrats in Congress compromised so willingly with the Republicans on this issue makes me weary about how strong our Democratic representatives in Congress really are. What I want to see are the earmarks attached to this bill that enticed the democrats to compromise considerably on their stance.

With Love,

The Ivory Poacher…