posted on November 19, 2005 04:59:31 AM new
House Rejects Withdrawal From Iraq
Democratic Lawmaker's Call for Pullout Sends Shockwaves Over Hill
By LIZ SIDOTI, AP
WASHINGTON (Nov. 19) - The Republican-controlled House spurned calls for an immediate pullout of troops from Iraq in a vote hastily arranged by the GOP that Democrats vociferously denounced as politically motivated.
"We want to make sure that we support our troops that are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan." said Speaker Dennis Hastert.
Poll below shows what the American people think about withdrawing troops from Iraq and Murtha's call for an immediate withdrawal from Iraq?
I applaud it 55%
I think it's irresponsible 32%
I have some reservations 13%
Total Votes: 156,589
Note on Poll Results
The vote, held as lawmakers rushed toward a two-week Thanksgiving break, was 403-3.
Democrats accused Republicans of orchestrating a political stunt that prohibited thoughtful debate on the issue, and nearly all voted against the measure.
That included Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania, the Democratic hawk whose call Thursday for pulling out troops set off a nasty, personal debate over the war.
"Our military is suffering. The future of our country is at risk. We cannot continue on our present course," Murtha said. He said the GOP resolution was not the thoughtful approach he had suggested to bring the troops safely home in six months.
The House action came in a week that also saw the GOP-controlled Senate defeat a Democratic push for President Bush to lay out a timetable for withdrawal. Instead, senators approved a statement that 2006 should be a significant year in which conditions are created for the phased withdrawal of U.S. forces.
"Congress in strong, bipartisan fashion rejected the call to cut and run," White House spokesman Scott McClellan, traveling with Bush in Asia, said a statement. Earlier Friday, the president called an immediate troop withdrawal "a recipe for disaster."
Murtha, a Marine veteran decorated for combat service in Vietnam and widely respected among his peers, issued his call for a troop withdrawal at a news conference Thursday. In little more than 24 hours, Hastert and Republicans decided to put the question to the House.
Republicans hoped to place Democrats in an unappealing position - either supporting a withdrawal that critics said would be precipitous or opposing it and angering voters who want an end to the conflict. They also hoped the vote could restore GOP momentum on an issue - the war - that has seen plummeting public support in recent weeks.
Democrats said it was a sham and quickly decided to vote against the resolution in an attempt to drain it of significance.
"A disgrace," declared House minority leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. "The rankest of politics and the absence of any sense of shame," added Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the No. 2 House Democrat.
At one point in the emotional debate, Rep. Jean Schmidt, R-Ohio, told of a phone call she received from a Marine colonel.
"He asked me to send Congress a message - stay the course. He also asked me to send Congressman Murtha a message - that cowards cut and run, Marines never do," Schmidt said. Murtha is a 37-year Marine veteran and ranking Democrat on the defense appropriations subcommittee.
Democrats booed and shouted her down - causing the House to come to a standstill.
Rep. Harold Ford, D-Tenn., charged across the chamber's center aisle screaming that Republicans were making uncalled-for personal attacks. "You guys are pathetic! Pathetic!" yelled Rep. Marty Meehan, D-Mass.
Democrats gave Murtha a standing ovation as he entered the chamber and took his customary corner seat.
Murtha has proposed his own resolution that would force the president to withdraw the nearly 160,000 troops in Iraq "at the earliest practicable date." It would establish a quick-reaction force and a nearby presence of Marines in the region. It also said the U.S. must pursue stability in Iraq through diplomacy.
The Republican alternative: "It is the sense of the House of Representatives that the deployment of United States forces in Iraq be terminated immediately."
Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said the resolution vote was not a stunt. "This is not an attack on an individual. This is a legitimate question," he said.
Three Democrats, Jose Serrano of New York, Robert Wexler of Florida and Cynthia McKinney of Georgia, voted for withdrawal. Six voted present: Reps. Jim McDermott of Washington; Jerrold Nadler, Maurice Hinchey and Major Owens of New York; Michael Capuano of Massachusetts and William Lacy Clay of Missouri.
posted on November 19, 2005 05:27:36 AM new
Our House is a mess and that's what happens when you have more of one party than the other. An ideal Senate would be one equally Democrat and Republican. Or, at least a Senate that is able to think on their own and take into account what the American people want. NOT what Bush or Cheney or Rove, Pat Robertson or anyone else wants. They were elected by the people of this country to serve them. IMO, they're serving no one but themselves, the religious right and the administration. Pathetic.
Any decisions they've made of late amount to nothing more than political back-biting. I know I'm not the only one more than a little sick of it all - from BOTH sides.
Edited to change Senate to House. Well, our Senate is a mess as well. So, I wasn't entirely wrong.
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
[ edited by cblev65252 on Nov 19, 2005 05:38 AM ]
posted on November 19, 2005 05:44:08 AM new
Huge waste of taxpayer's money,
cheap political trick,
total lack of respect shown by the Republicans for the lives and sacrifices of our troops,
proof that the Republicans cannot enter into any intelligent discourse because they DRANK THE KOOL AID,
proof the Republicans have no plan STILL,
and a really cool way to divert attention away from the fact that once again they screwed middle and low income families and gave more tax breaks to the rich...very clever ...evil, nasty, disgusting, but hey, they're Repugs
posted on November 19, 2005 05:45:12 AM new
No biggie, cheryl. I know how I am until I have my first cup of coffee.
Your Mr. K. acted like a raving lunitic last night as he present his views....or maybe one might say like an old preacher....at a revival.
I missed who the six dems were that didn't have the guts to go on record so voted 'present'...and I missed the final count...but I have no doubt that the the three dems who voted to withdraw, were the ones who opposed the war from the beginning, just like your Mr. K.
"Whenever the nation is under attack, from within or without, liberals side with the enemy. This is their essence." --Ann Coulter
And why the American Voters chose to RE-elect President Bush to four more years. YES!!!
posted on November 19, 2005 06:16:48 AM new
I really would have thought Mrs. K would have calmed Mr. K down. She's a really wonderful person. I wouldn't call him a raving lunatic. I'd call him passionate!
Edited to add: At least he has the guts to stand up and say what he's really thinking. There's no guessing with Dennis.
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
[ edited by cblev65252 on Nov 19, 2005 06:17 AM ]
posted on November 19, 2005 06:29:14 AM newcheap political trick
You mean when the democrats "closed" the doors.
403-3. Obviously those democrats do not support a troop withdrawl and it was all politics in the first place. Yep all them yes votes drank the koolaid, democrat and republican LOL
posted on November 19, 2005 06:34:25 AM new
You know cheryl, that is one thing we CAN agree on. And I agree whole heartedly with you on that issue.
I'd rather have a person stick to their strong [even if wrong ] beliefs than to be wishy-washy like so many politicans are today. And your man IS that - solid in his positions....if a progressive/socialist. And that's one of the things I've always appreciated about this President too....he's the same way.
posted on November 19, 2005 10:24:30 AM new
Cheryl, I posted your words again because I feel the same way about several members of Congress and the Senate. Thank you for posting your thoughts that parallel mine much better then I could have.
Cheryl said, "Our House is a mess and that's what happens when you have more of one party than the other. An ideal Senate would be one equally Democrat and Republican. Or, at least a Senate that is able to think on their own and take into account what the American people want. NOT what Bush or Cheney or Rove, Pat Robertson or anyone else wants. They were elected by the people of this country to serve them. IMO, they're serving no one but themselves, the religious right and the administration. Pathetic."
ITS SO IMPORTANT TO VOTE OUT THE WACKO RELIGIOUS RIGHT CON-SERVATIVES IN 2006. THESE WACKOS TRULY ARE PATHETIC AND CONS THAT ARE BAD FOR AMERICA.
posted on November 19, 2005 01:09:03 PM new
Thanks, Bigpeepa! There's so much squabbling going on in both the House and Senate, I'm surprised anything gets done. It's a kindergarten class of adults. Not surprisingly, there are more Republican kindergartners in class than Democrat ones. However, both sides are starting to get under my skin.
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
posted on November 19, 2005 02:16:09 PM new
Yes, it's too bad we have a republic and operate in a democratic fashion. Not.
We elect our representatives...in both the House and the Senate....never have had them 'equal' in numbers. Never. It's not our system. But even if it were the way to two suggeset...via the election process...it wouldn't change how they act. You'd have dems voting with reps at times and visa versa.
Just THINK peepa...you ONLY need to gain 15 seats in the house and 16 to have control. Keep praying.
posted on November 19, 2005 04:52:24 PM new
LIAR-LINDA_K,
A little by little more and more your kind are being stripped of their power.
That's a very good thing for America.
YES!!!
When some PHONY WACKO RIGHT WING RELIGIOUS CONSERVATIVES get exposed they show their true-selves. They forget about their Christian disguise and masquerade with the words below.
yes creepa, "I WANT TO BE a Carcinoma-cancer-ridden angry old maniac like you!!"
If I am strong and lucky enough to beat Cancer for 12 years. I am surely STRONG ENOUGH TO PISS ALL OVER SOME PHONY WACKO RIGHT WING RELIGIOUS FAKE. YES!!!
posted on November 19, 2005 05:09:54 PM new
peepa....I certainly hope that you're NOT implying to anyone here that I made that statement to you. Because I didn't.
But if you've had cancer...that doesn't have anything to do with nor change the political ground your party will have to come up with in order to take away power from the right.
Or were you going from sympathy, thinking more will side with you politically IF they know you've had cancer? I hope not on that issue too.
posted on November 19, 2005 07:58:08 PM new
If this doesn't prove complete brain failure on the part of the writer .....!Read this burble:
""But if you've had cancer...that doesn't have anything to do with nor change the political ground your party will have to come up with in order to take away power from the right.""
OH NO #*!@ LINDDUH, ya think? WOW what awsome powers of reasoning and deduction !
""Or were you going from sympathy, thinking more will side with you politically IF they know you've had cancer? I hope not on that issue too. ""
.."going from sympathy" ??? ..from Sympathy, NJ, to Oshgosh, WI ??? what the hellll?
If you're implying that a person who says he's been cancer free for ten years is looking for sympathy then I guess you've never met a cancer survivor...aren't you lucky! And stupid, if, in your garbled way, you were trying to say Big is looking for sympathy let's just say HE AIN'T YOU, that's what YOU would do, NOT bigpeepa, don't project!
posted on November 19, 2005 08:39:50 PM new
defogger9 said "You probably piss all over yourself every day. But youre not pissing on me, fat boy. Go piss on your wife and your children. Ignorant thing."
Another statement from a disguised sicko masquerading as a CON-SERVATIVE CHRISTIAN.
For some of these sickos FAKE CHRISTIANS CON-SERVATIVES like dblfugger9.
All one has to do is peel their veneer away to expose how truly ugly they are.
HEY dblfugger9 WHEN THAT DAY COMES. WHERE YA GOING RUN TO FAKE CHRISTIAN? WHERE YA GOING TO HIDE?
posted on November 19, 2005 09:24:00 PM newthat doesn't have anything to do with nor change the political ground your party will have to come up with in order to take away power from the right.
We won't have to do anything. The Republicans are doing a good job at loosing ground for themselves:
In the latest poll, 55 percent of the respondents said that they would vote for the Democratic candidate if Bush were again running for the presidency this year.
Thirty-nine percent of those interviewed said they would vote for Bush in the hypothetical election.
The latest poll results, released Tuesday, were based on interviews with 1,008 adults conducted by telephone October 21-23.
In the poll, 42 percent of those interviewed approved of the way the president is handling his job and 55 percent disapproved. In the previous poll, released October 17, 39 percent approved of Bush's job performance -- the lowest number of his presidency -- and 58 percent disapproved.
However, all the numbers are within the poll's sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points, so it's possible that the public's opinion has not changed at all.
More than half, 57 percent, said they don't agree with the president's views on issues that are important to them, while 41 percent said their views are in alignment with those of Bush on important issues.
Democrats preferred on issues
On separate issues, a majority of those questioned felt the Democrats could do a better job than Republicans at handling health care (59 percent to 30 percent), Social Security (56 percent to 33 percent), gasoline prices (51 percent to 31 percent) and the economy (50 percent to 38 percent).
Forty-six percent also believed Democrats could do better at handling Iraq, while 40 percent said the GOP would do better.
In 2003, 53 percent said Republicans would better handle Iraq and only 29 percent believed the Democrats would do better.
The only issue on which Republicans came out on top was in fighting terrorism: 49 percent said the GOP is better at it, while 38 percent said the Democrats are.
And there was a dramatic shift downward in the latest poll, compared with September, in the percentage of people who said that it was a mistake to send U.S. troops to Iraq.
This time, 49 percent said it was a mistake, versus 59 percent who felt that way last month.
Absolute faith has been shown, consistently, to breed intolerance. And intolerance, history teaches us, again and again, begets violence.
---------------------------------- The duty of a patriot in this time and place is to ask questions, to demand answers, to understand where our nation is headed and why. If the answers you get do not suit you, or if they frighten you, or if they anger you, it is your duty as a patriot to dissent. Freedom does not begin with blind acceptance and with a flag. Freedom begins when you say 'No.'
posted on November 19, 2005 09:36:11 PM new
LOL logansdad....someday you MIGHT just GET it that polls have been so wrong in most all their predictions....since 1994.
They don't mean a thing....and probably most polled don't even VOTE.
So enjoy your fantasy....till reality hits you smack in the face again....like it's done each time you've had your hopes so high....only to see your side lose.
As they will again.
"Whenever the nation is under attack, from within or without, liberals side with the enemy. This is their essence." --Ann Coulter
And why the American Voters chose to RE-elect President Bush to four more years. YES!!!
posted on November 20, 2005 03:07:29 AM new
oh miss innocent wishes to express her condemnation, isnt she a sweetie?
It was not a terrible statement - it is a true statment! And people like him who bottle up anger mad at the world, then go around randomly trying to attach their mess to others are known to have serious ailments. Then they expect everybody to feel sorry for them because its their own anger backfiring on them.
posted on November 20, 2005 04:35:38 AM new
LIAR-LINDA_K, NO WAY DID I BRING UP CANCER ANYWHERE IN THIS POST. THE (OH SO HOLY) PHONY FAKE CHRISTIAN CON-SERVATIVE defogger9 DID, NOT ME!!!
LIAR-LINDA_K, I asked NO ONE for your word "sympathy"?
LIAR-LINDA_K to your post I will say again.
For some of these SICKO FAKE CHRISTIANS CON-SERVATIVES.
All one has to do is peel their veneer away to expose how truly ugly they are.
DO YOU GET IT NOW LIAR-LINDA_K? DO YOU GET IT NOW?
posted on November 20, 2005 04:55:25 AM new
beepa, one day I might even 'de-fog' you; and that would be a good thing...wouldnt ya say?
oh and btw, Yes, it was YOU who brought it up in this thread. Typical. Drag your hostilies around from thread to thread like you do in your life from year to year....
[ edited by dblfugger9 on Nov 20, 2005 04:57 AM ]
posted on November 20, 2005 05:04:55 AM new
"If I am strong and lucky enough to beat Cancer for 12 years. I am surely STRONG ENOUGH TO PISS ALL OVER SOME PHONY WACKO RIGHT WING RELIGIOUS FAKE. YES!!!"
WELL YOU DID BRING IT UP-WITH A GROSS STATEMENT AFTER THAT-WHATS THE MATTER BUNKY, IS ALZHEIMER'S SETTING IN AND YA DONT EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU TYPE ANYMORE?????????????
posted on November 20, 2005 05:47:58 AM new
aww, c'mon classic - threatening to piss on somebody (a complete stranger, who you've got completely confused and transposed as somebody else in your OWN Mind) is not such a terrible thing to say, now is it??
Nah, I dont think so. Especially given the going fascination around this board with urination and toilets, and the like. Nope, beepa doesnt have too much pent up hostility there.
posted on November 20, 2005 06:22:15 AM new
Helen, he told me I am a "want to be" supposedly, like him. That was my reply, how much I want to be him, or like him. Do not tell somebody they want to be what you have said you are!
And it's funny from you, its only worth noting it is so low-brow and shabby when someone you do not support comes out with it. Linda's got your number alright.
How do you feel about somebody wanting to piss on you with their carcinomic laden urine, btw?
Do you prefer the sweet smelling urine of diabetics?
posted on November 20, 2005 06:33:59 AM new
Dbl, at least, linda had sense enought to absolve herself from making that statement.
Maybe you get so focused on your little word games that you fail to consider the import of your message. It's dirty pool to use people's medical conditions in an attempt to humiliate. Apparently you haven't learned that kind of compassion or consideration.
posted on November 20, 2005 06:50:11 AM new
LOL!
Dirty pool? Dear darling helen, please research some of your saved threads. There is NOTHING on this board that is considered dirty pool and you've been gestating in it for years..honing your skills.
Try to understand this: He is telling me I want to be him. As if who the hel1 wants to be him? With cancer and angry all the time?? Shooten off like a crazed friggin machine gun!
Now whats the matter? Is that too candid for somebody on these boards? I dont think so. I wouldnt want to be him in a million years. And if he is such a an expert seller, sans degree, why is he so threatened by little ole me?
You can get off your high horse,helen. And do divulge how you take your urine. Would that be with one lump or two?
posted on November 20, 2005 06:58:11 AM new
Poor linduh, still can't get it that even the Republicans are admitting their numbers are down and are warning each other that they better do something
Should've had the TV on Sunday mornings for the last few weeks...googling up the answers you WANT to see isn't a very accurate way to get the news.
""They don't mean a thing....and probably most polled don't even VOTE. ""
How do YOU know if they vote or not...you don't know.
I guess this doesn't mean a thing either....
""And there was a dramatic shift downward in the latest poll, compared with September, in the percentage of people who said that it was a mistake to send U.S. troops to Iraq.
This time, 49 percent said it was a mistake, versus 59 percent who felt that way last month."""
