Pelosi Made A Deal--Wonder When That Shoe Will Drop

The house passed the appropriations bill that includes a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq. Pelosi gets her victory in a razor thin 218-212 vote that had she lost, would likely have spelled the end of her Speakership.

But in order to get that deal, Pelosi had to get some sort of deal worked out with Maxine Waters and the Out-of-Iraq-Now crowd. No one knows or least they are not reporting, what the deal entailed, but you know it had to be a dozy to get the left side of the Democratic caucus in line. Don Surber notes that Pelosi's speakership leaves Dennis Haster "looking more competent by the hour."

According to Politico.com:

But on the eve of the vote, many liberal Democrats dropped their opposition, indicating they didn’t want their desire for more stringent conditions to end the war to stand in the way of a more moderate measure.

"I don’t want the perfect to be the enemy of the good," said one liberal House Democrat.

Of course, "good" here is very subjective.

The bill's fate is far from certain in the Senate. The question will be weather Minority Leader McConnell will be able to strip the timetable and/or pork out of the bill. Of course, the White House may ask McConnell to allow the bill to pass through the Senate in order to make sure the veto pen still works.

With a vote margin where it was, the House Democrats have little or no hope picking up 72 votes necessary to override the veto. Furthermore, Pelosi has spent her political capital in this battle, a battle that she should have won had she and the House leadership been right in their belief that the November win was about Iraq.

It is only a matter of time before the deal for the Waters' faction comes to light and you can be sure that the Blue Dog Democrats are not going to like it.