“If I had to say one thing that I would have appraised differently … it would have been that I would not have expected the Republicans in Congress to stick with the president on this war this long,” she said. “Not from their personal statements to us privately or the public mood in their own districts.”

I think this speaks to a fundamental misunderstanding and miscalculation of their Congressional victories which I believe are based on very weak support of their agenda.

Dittos for false evaluations made by uber-Leftists like MoveOn and Code Pink.

Wind Rider on December 11, 2007 at 11:24 PM

Gotta disagree here. You are absolutely right on the technicalities but Congress will eventually pass legislation making up the “missed pay” for DOD employees and contractors.

I say go ahead and let Hillary win it. She’ll be gone in 4 years and maybe that’ll shut up all the whiney aging hippies for another generation.

Harpazo on December 11, 2007 at 11:37 PM

Very bad idea. The only thing that is standing in the way of the Reid-Pelosi Congress is President George W. Bush. Just imagine what the situation would be right now if Hillary (or Obama) were in charge.

Indeed, thanks to him the Dems are operating a Can’t do nothing Congress.

he needs to step down and let the young, new true conservatives take over.

Who are these people? Seriously.

petulant porkers

HA!

I have a feeling John Boehner will be President one day.

Boehner had the chance to prove himself when the republicans controlled the house and he showed excatly what he was, just another big spending, pandering to special interests politician. His latest incarnation is only because he finally recognized the indignation of the base (after the crushing defeat in 2006) way too late. Boehner doesn’t need to president, he needs to step down and let the young, new true conservatives take over. Boehner is just a younger version of Haslett.

With the Republicans painting the Dems as “do-nothings”, making them shut down the government will simply solidify their case. And that hurts anyone from those branches running for PotUS from the blue side of the aisle (Hillary, Obama).

Can you imagine the adds? “Senator X was so uninterested in working together with Republicans he/she voted to shut down the government, leaving our troops (dramatic pause with gloomy music) without funding.”

I say go ahead and let Hillary win it. She’ll be gone in 4 years and maybe that’ll shut up all the whiney aging hippies for another generation.

I have a feeling John Boehner will be President one day.

CrimsonFisted on December 11, 2007 at 10:49 PM

He has reeaallly nice eyes. I could handle that.

The DOD is about to send out furlough notices but this is a distractor. Even if these employees “go home” they’ll eventually be paid.

Uh, no, they won’t.

The contractor and hourly wage DoD employees likely to get caught in the middle of this mess won’t be compensated for the time they’re told to go and sit at home.

That’s as deceptive as the claim that the DoD can simply move money around to make up for the ongoing ops costs being racked up over in CENTCOM – to do so is illegal, and people DO get fired and or prosecuted for doing so. It’s called, in the circles “colors of money” – and you can’t mix them or move them around – you can redirect some O&M money between accounts, but not nearly enough without Congressional authorization to make a real difference. That’s also why the Army and the Marines will bear the brunt of this – money allocated to the Air Force and the Navy can’t be moved like that.

So, the folks being paid out of technically the same pots are the ones that will get the shaft.

Just consider it the East Coast version of the Folsom Street festival from Nancy’s home district…sponsored by the Democratic Party (instead of Miller brewing, this time)

Is the Harry and Nancy show over yet? Can we at least change the channel? Next November?

Hand me the dang remote….

It’s the end of the session and the government has yet to pass a budget. Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer could well have gotten a budget out of the House if they had worked with a realistic view about what they could get through the process, a bit more pork in the right places among the GOP Representatives, and a unified message to the “rats” (read party discipline).

Nothing proves the “rats” are failing as leaders than this looming showdown. With control of both houses of Congress and a clear mission they could march down to the White House and demand their budget be signed into law. The reality is that the “rats” have a razor thin majority, a disunified message, and no clear sense about where the nation should be headed.

The DOD is about to send out furlough notices but this is a distractor. Even if these employees “go home” they’ll eventually be paid. The real point to remember is that the DOD needs to fund operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. If Congress refuses to fund the DOD as they seem poised to do, money for these ongoing operations has to come from some other part of the DOD budget until the standoff is resolved. Civilian personnel are expendible but you simply can’t tell an infantry division to “go home” until Pelosi and Bush whip out a ruler and figure out who is the bigger man. It’s a failure of leadership that troops in combat are unsure if they’ll be funded. I REPEAT for emphasis: It’s a failure of leadership that troops in combat are unsure if they’ll be funded.

I’ll end with this comment. Shouldn’t we all be questioning our Congressmen in excruciating detail about their positions on the issues we care about. I know where my Representative stands- it’s William Jefferson so essentially his views won’t matter after his corruption trial starts next month. That doesn’t excuse the rest of you that aren’t represented by a man who got caught with $90K of marked money in his freezer and an excuse that the money was there because it is a “black thing” we wouldn’t understand.

Thank you, politicians, for stealing some money I earned with hours of concentrated effort, and funneling it into some pet projects of yours.

2. Good to see some criticism of the P_____o in the post. I can’t bring myself to type the name.

RushBaby on December 11, 2007 at 10:50 PM

You didn’t finish it. The money is funneled into pet projects so that elected officials can purchase re-election votes. Your production buys their career advancement.

2. Good to see some criticism of the P_____o in the post. I can’t bring myself to type the name.