Is Congress Commander-in-Chief Now

Filed under: Politics, War on Terror, Senate, Retreat

The Senate passes the Retreat Deadline bill.

Forty-eight Democrats and independent Bernard Sanders of Vermont were joined by two Republicans, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Gordon Smith of Oregon, in voting for the measure. Opposed were 46 Republicans and Connecticut independent Joseph Lieberman.

Sens. Mike Enzi, R-Wy., and Tim Johnson, D-S.D., did not vote.

Where’s my veto pen? Thank you, Joe. Shame on you, Chuck and Gordon.

N.Z. Bear at Victory Caucus notes that Congress is in such a hurry to bring our troops home, they are going on Spring Break before sending it to Bush:

So what happens now? Well, President Bush has made crystal clear that he will veto the bill. But he won’t even get a chance for several weeks. The Democratic leadership have decided to stick to the normal (read: non-emergency) calendar, and so Congress is now heading home for Spring Break. Once they return, the Senate bill still needs to be reconciled with the House version, and so the final bill won’t make it to President Bush’s desk until at least mid-April.

Meanwhile, our troops are waiting. So it turns out that according to the Democratic leadership, funding for the Tree Assistance Program, sugar beets , and the Ewe Lamb Replacement and Retention Program are all “emergencies”. But there’s nothing urgent at all about actually getting funds to our soldiers on the battlefield.

Michelle Malkin:

Party on.

Hot Air:

Mild surprise in the final tally.

If Dingy Harry and friends truly did not want to “waste another drop of American blood,” why pass a measure that starts bringing them home in 18 months? Will any Democrat come out and say what they believe? Many of them, Hillary included, spoke out in favor of the war when it was feel-good time, but now that it would be political suicide for her, she flip-flop’s on the war speaking out against it, and in so doing, makes John Kerry look like a Boy Scout.

And while we’re talking about going to war, who changed the Constitution to make Congress a Commander-in-Chief? Congress has two roles in war: Vote to approve a President’s declaration of war and vote for funding. There is no mention of passing measures that determine troop levels, deployment dates, or military tactic control, but they are trying to do all these things.

I may be wrong, but this resolution is number 16 by the Democrat Party. That’s 16 attempts to undermine the troops, embolden our enemy, and make a clear-cut path for the enemy to follow us home. Not to mention the pork for Capitol tours, Christmas trees, and other perks for Democrats laced inside this most recent Cut ‘n Run measure.

Democrats must understand that their new-found majority was not given them by the American people so they can retreat and allow Iran an easy base for launching a war against the U.S.. I attribute their victory to a need for freshness in Congress and it just so happened that many conservatives ran as Democrats, but it certainly was not due to a desire to undercut our own troops.