On a slightly more precise level, what she has said is that if Barack Obama wants Democrats in the house to support him on Afghanistan, that Pelosi will not use her position as speaker to whip votes:
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said President Barack Obama must press his own arguments for sending 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan because she won’t ask House Democrats to pay for the military escalation.I'm sure Steny Hoyer, 2nd in command as House Majority Leader, will continue to whip the vote, but this is a big deal.
“The president is going to have to make his case,” Pelosi told reporters today in Washington.
The speaker said persuading House Democrats to approve a $106 billion spending bill in June to finance the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan was “definitely” the hardest vote of her tenure as speaker. She said she told Democrats her request for their support was the last time “I would ever ask them to vote for it.”
House Democratic leaders will provide briefings on funds for the additional troops, and members “will have the information” they need to make a decision, she said. “But this, for members, is a vote of conscience.”
I expect the bill to pass anyway, since the Republicans will always vote pro war, but much like during our private little war in South East Asia in 1968, it's the Democrats who are opposing it, and much like that private little war in South East Asia in 1968, they are correct in their opposition to the this private little war in South Asia.
1 comments :
Hmmm....interesting rebellion. This is what happens when you (a) prove you are a totall wuss, and (b) your wussiness threatens the House majority.
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