It should be painfully obvious that all the claptrap by the media about the Democrats being unable to override the Bush veto is just plain hokum. Not even the soft-brained politcal pundits are that stupid. No bill means no funding. What the Democrats in the House and Senate should have been doing is standing up in the House and the Senate and saying just that — veto this bill and you will get no funding for your war in Iraq. Why didn’t they do just that?
I almost never agree with George Will on anything. He has trouble reaching the right conclusions, but he almost always gets his facts right. The facts are that the Democrats had the upper hand. What they didn’t do is make sure this was known. The message to Bush, shouted from the floors of the House and Senate, should have been — Take this bill or you get nothing for your war in Iraq.
But it’s puzzling. Both wars have been going on for more than two years. Bush has been back-dooring appropriations for both wars by asking for so-called supplemental appropriations for his wars after the budget process has been completed. I wonder if this has even been legal. The Bush answer has been that they didn’t know how much to ask for in advance, but that doesn’t or shouldn’t make any difference.
ARTICLES and ANSWERS 2020 