The Latest Tantrum in the Rose Garden
Update: Michael Hirsh of Newsweek looks at The Rose Garden Offensive, and doesn’t buy it:
Bush came out swinging against a Democratic Congress determined, he argues, to undo the benefits of the “surge.” Time for a reality check. Finding the thorns in Bush’s Rose Garden address.
Update: Magpie at Pacific Views looked it up: so far the Dems have taken 57 days this year for this bill. The Reps took 86 days in 2005 and 119 days in 2006.
Update: Melanie at Just a Bump in the Beltway notes that Mr. Absent is complaining about Congress taking a break the day before he heads back to Crawford for Easter. [Back in January she noted he had racked up 365 days at Camp David and 405 days in Crawford in 6 years.]
From BBC coverage of the Shrubbery’s press conference: Bush warns over Iraq funds delay
US President George W Bush has warned that US troops will suffer if a dispute with Congress over a war funding bill is not resolved soon.
Speaking at the White House, Mr Bush said Congress was failing in its “basic responsibility” to give troops the equipment and training they need.
Actually, Congress has been funding equipment and training for years, and the Pentagon hasn’t been using the money. Rumsfeld was not replacing equipment, and people were being sent to Iraq without training. The problem for the last six years has been the Department of Defense, not Congress.
Not that Congress has been doing a great job. The 109th Congress under Republican leadership still hadn’t passed the budget bills that were due in October of last year when they left, but the Shrubbery didn’t complain about that.
Congress is the branch that declares war, authorizes money, writes the rules [UCMJ] for the military, has to agree on the commissions of officers. Congress has more power regarding the military than the “Commander in Chief.” If Congress wants the war to end, it is over. If the President doesn’t agree, Congress can impeach the President.
It’s time that Congress takes its responsibilities seriously, and starts to use its power.
