vt.Buzz ~ a political blog

Political notes from Free Press staff writers Terri Hallenbeck, Sam Hemingway and Nancy Remsen

1.19.2007

On Iraq

Rep. Peter Welch signed onto a resolution calling for withdrawal of troops from Iraq. Is this a sign that the earlier talk of bringing the troops home with a year is no longer the thing?

Welch signed onto Rep. John Murtha's House Joint Resolution 18, which calls for an immediate reployment of our troops from Iraq. It goes like this:

"The deployment of United States forces in Iraq, by direction of Congress, is
hereby terminated and the forces involved are to be redeployed at the earliest
practicable date."

Welch also co-sponsored H.R. 353, sponsored by Rep. Edward Markey, that prohibits the president from spending funds to escalate the troop presence in Iraq without prior congressional approval.

Questions remain about whether Congress will have any sway when it comes down to it in Iraq, or whether they have any better answers for solving the jam the U.S. is in over there.

- Terri Hallenbeck

posted by vt.Buzz | 2:42 PM |

Comments:

Terri,
I might be a reformed plagerist (don't worry, I'm going to self-help classes everyone) but I know a little about Congress and how it works.

Joint Resolutions - They mean absolutly zilch. Especially when they are as vague as HJR 18. That thing is going no where.

HR 353? By the time that puppy has traction, which is probably won't ever, those surge troops will already be over in Iraq and so it to means absolutly zilch.

Ah Congress. They want to stop the war, hold the President accountable and bring the war in a new direction?

Sure they (Peter) do! Cut off funding for the whole war.

Anything short of that and Welch's actions mean jack.

BTW, did this little nugget make in into Welch's press release today?

In an exclusive interview with ABC News' Diane Sawyer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stated that the Congress would not be cutting any funding for the US troops in Iraq, saying, "The president knows that because the troops are in harm's way, that we won't cut off the resources. That's why he's moving so quickly to put them in harm's way."
(From ABC's The Note Today)

The Congress has sway in Iraq, the problem is that they don't have better answers. So they sit, complain and talk about better "scrutiny"

I've been saying it for 3 months - If you are against the troop surge and against cutting off funding to stop the whole war by default you are staying the course.

IQ-AF Military Dead Since the Democrats Won and Promised Withdrawal: 160

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 3:15 PM, January 19, 2007

Joint Resolutions

1) I resolve to smoke more joints
2) I resolve to roll my joints bigger
3) I resolve to share my joints better

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 4:29 PM, January 19, 2007

" Military Dead Since the Democrats Won and Promised Withdrawal: 160"

Hey genius - the Dems have been in power for a few short days. NOBODY said that it'd be possible to withdraw in ten days.

Your political commentary is so asinine that it's no wonder that you prefer to copy the words and ideas of other people.

It’s also no wonder that you’ve been fired from every political job you’ve ever had.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 12:27 AM, January 21, 2007

More high-level discourse I see (along with the statesmanlike Sanders use of the erudite term "moron" on erudite NPR) ....

# Posted by:

BarreBoy | 9:00 AM, January 22, 2007

Dick Cheney has used more offensive language on the floor of the Senate.

Calling someone a moron for ignoring science is nothing.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 9:24 AM, January 22, 2007

Anonymous 12:27,

You going to bark all day little doggie? Or are you going to bite?

IQ-AF Military Dead Since the Democrats Won and Promised Withdrawal: 186

When does Welch stop whining?

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 8:53 PM, January 22, 2007

You need to go back to Hilary's website and copy some of her words again.

At least when you plagarized, your words made sense.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 8:27 AM, January 23, 2007