Democrats use Pork to Buy Support for Defense Bill

The inept Democrats are buying support for their defense bill with pork. I don't think this it what the American people voted for the last election:

With the House poised to vote as early as today on a $124.1 billion budget bill that would end U.S. involvement in Iraq next year, you'd think House leaders would let such a critical decision ride strictly on its merits.

But Democrats are having trouble rounding up votes for the measure. So the leaders are trying to buy votes the old-fashioned way - by luring wavering members with billions of dollars for parochial projects.

The reason for the reluctance of some Democrats: they don't want to be called names. Some Congressmen are too craven to speak out against the war, lest they be accused of abandoning the troops:

Democrats in the U.S. Congress pressed on Thursday for a timetable for a U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq, ignoring White House threats of a presidential veto on any bill that ties nearly $100 billion in combat funds to a 2008 pullout.

The U.S. House of Representatives began debate on legislation to bring all American combat troops out of Iraq by September 1, 2008. The measure cleared a procedural hurdle, and a close vote on passage is expected on Friday.

Speaking of waste and inefficiency:

The leaders of a Senate panel said Thursday that the Defense and State departments must work more closely together to avoid repeating multimillion dollar mistakes in the reconstruction of Iraq.

Sen. Joseph Lieberman, chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said they were considering legislation to create a commission to help fix problems after investigators found confusion and disarray in the four-year-old reconstruction effort.

"Where we've seen failure is when the U.S. government failed to plan projects carefully and then failed to keep a close watch over contractors and now we've seen billions of dollars wasted — a cost measured not just in dollars but in the undermining of the overall U.S. mission in these war-torn countries," said Lieberman, D-Conn.

Meanwhile the White House is busy focusing are more failure: the Middle East peace process:

President George W. Bush said on Thursday he was dedicated to pursuing Middle East peace as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice prepared to visit the region amid skepticism about U.S. commitment to the peace process.

Rice will travel to Egypt, Israel, the West Bank and Jordan during a Friday-Tuesday trip that is will be her third visit to the Middle East this year and appears to reflect a U.S. desire to focus on resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Not included in that trip is the other failure--Lebanon:

Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Seniora Thursday described the political crisis in the country as "very grave and dangerous."

"The way out of this dangerous crisis will require tremendous efforts," he said at an official ceremony.

But it wouldn't be the Bush administration without threatening a another country: Just add another country to the "axis of evil" list. This time its Italy:

The United States on Thursday said the Italy-backed deal with the Taliban to secure the release of an abducted journalist has created an "increased threat" to the safety of foreigners in Afghanistan and warned against any further concessions to terrorists.

Why don't they use these planes to find Bin Laden:

An unmanned plane helped border agents net a man wanted on child sex abuse charges in Washington state, federal officials said Thursday.

The aircraft was flying along the Arizona-Mexico border late Tuesday when it detected and tracked six suspected aliens, including Leopoldo Aparicio-Lopez, a Mexican national.

Maybe Bush should stick to what he's good at:

The White House's limited offer of documents and interviews in the controversial firing of U.S. attorneys fits its track record of secrecy.

From the time he walked into the Oval Office, President Bush has tried to tighten the government's hold on information and restrict public scrutiny. He says he's defending the executive branch from encroachment by overzealous lawmakers and needs to make sure that he and the presidents who follow him have the chance to get confidential advice from advisers.