The Democrats!! What is going on here??

[kestra]

You know, when the Dems took over back in the last election, I thought "okay good, maybe they'll be able to challenge Bush more seriously now".
Well, they kinda are.....
Admittedly, there are many gaps in my understandings on how Congress and the Senate work; in particular these legislations they keep trying to pass to remove troops in Iraq for example.
It seems like they are all non-binding, meaning the White House can stick their finger up at them, so to speak, or veto. Correct me if I'm wrong on this.

So my question is:"why do they keep submitting these non binding pieces of legislation when they all seem to get shot down? Bush hasn't had a change of heart in over 7 years. It's Bush's way or the highway, or so it seems.
Are they waiting for some miraculous change of heart that's never going to come?"

On another issue, the Harriet Miers contempt charges. From what I understand, it amounts to little more than a $100 000 fine, and MAYBE some jail time. Of course, we've seen how Bush feels about jail time for his friends and colleagues.

Is this the best the Dems can do?

[Snrrub]

Originally posted by kestra
Is this the best the Dems can do?

Maybe you should move there and form your own party.

[Blog]

What exactly did you expect them to do?

[kestra]

Showing some backbone would be a good start.
The Democratic Party resemble a battered wife sometimes with their behavior and treatment of Bush. "I know he treats me badly, but deep down I know he still loves me".

[Rosuav]

Kestra, go stand for parliament. And when you get voted in, I'll enjoy some avian bacon.

Politicians are who they are because of popularity. They never have to do the right thing, or the proper thing, or the thing that's best in the long term. The very best thing for a politician to do is the thing that will get him (or her) elected for another term. You can't blame an accountant for trying to save money, or a computer programmer for trying to fix a bug. In the same way, you can't really look down on a politician who does the popular thing - it's fundamentally encouraged by the design of the political system of America, Australia, England, etcetera.

So - either what "the Dems" are doing is popular, or it's not. If it's not, they're going to be voted out. If it is, well, you can hardly blame them for it. Basically, this applies to every political action: Either vote for the person who does it, or don't vote for them. Beyond that, why fret? Exercise the power you have, and don't yearn for what you do not have.

[Graeblyn]

Kestra, take a look at these links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-binding_resolution

A resolution doesn't require the President's support. If they want to pass a law without the President's support, they need a supermajority:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_majority

Even if they had that supermajority lined up, the Legislative branch is limited in its powers over military matters (with the notable exception of declaring war:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Command...#United_States

Even if they found a constitutional way to interfere with the President's military decisions, the US doesn't have any mechanism for them to safely withdraw the troops without active cooperation of the Executive Branch. Most legislators are not willing to compromise the safety of the troops by forcing a withdraw through, for example, defunding the Defense department or pentagon, or what have you.

[Wrent]

Graeblyn is exactly right... your little rant or troll here just doesn't make sense as an arguement.

Also, just as point of fact, there are many Republicans who, now, feel that the campaign is "unwinable". So it's not simply a matter of "The Dems have no balls", it's simply hard to safely and effectively end such a massive military operation.

[Darion]

I was hoping that no one would bother feeding the troll, but it seems that the replies have been informative despite Kestra's expert analysis of Congress' "battered wife" syndrome. It has been obvious for some time that Kestra has no idea how the US government actually works.

To anyone who would actually like to learn something about the government's function I suggest you follow the links Graeblyn posted, read them, and follow some of the other related links. Then read them. Repeat until enlightened.

Thread closed.