Bush Threatens the Veto Pen

As I noted yesterday, the plan to include a timetable for withdrawal of troops from Iraq in a supplemental appropriations bill is a complete non-starter for the President. The White House has noted that the President holds a veto pen and has enough votes to sustain the veto against any override attempt.

But of course, a bill has to emerge from Congress for the President to sign, at that does not look like it will happen. The Democrats are far from united on the plan, even to the point of not even having agreement on when the final troops should be out of Iraq. Hard Left members want the troops home for Christmas. Other Democrats are talking about a March 2008 deadline and Speaker Nancy Pelosi has mentioned a August/September 2008 deadline--which would look very good for the election, assuming of course Iraq doesn't go through a complete meltdown in the process.

In an apparent stroke of genius, Nancy Pelosi has vowed to tack on some politically appealing funding for

military health care and housing, homeland security, Gulf Coast hurricane relief and agriculture assistance.

while not germane to the supplemental appropriations request, the ploy could pick off a few votes to pass the bill, but I doubt that Pelosi has the 290 votes necessary to override a veto and I am very sure that Harry Reid doesn't have the 67 votes necessary.

So where does that leave the Democrats? Assuming they can get the supplemental appropriations bill passed, which they will need, in all likelihood, to get it passed (and it is their responsiblity to do so), they will have to pass a "clean bill," that is a bill without the poison pill amendments being offered. The result will be a devasting loss and even more proof that the Democrats are incapable of governing, despite their perceived mandate.