Appropriations Bill (with Deadline) Set to Pass House

Certainly not as strong a bill as I'd like to see, but it looks like it's going to pass anyway.

"After two grueling weeks of meetings, progressive members of Congress brought forth an agreement that provided the momentum to pass a supplemental spending bill that, for the first time, establishes a timeline for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq," the four California congresswomen said in a statement.

One well-placed Democratic aide said Pelosi had approached the progressives asking them to supply four votes, but that they ultimately pledged to deliver about ten. It was unclear whether the progressives received any concessions in return.

"We have released people who were beginning... to be pulled in a different direction," Waters said. "We don’t want them to be put in a position where they look like they are undermining Nancy’s speakership."

"I have struggled with this decision," Lee said, "but I finally decided that, while I cannot betray my conscience, I cannot stand in the way of passing a measure that puts a concrete end date on this unnecessary war."

[Josephine Hearn @ The Politico]

This pretty much puts Cohen in the clear to do whatever he likes, unless he is one of the promised ten. The latest word is that Steve Cohen, Jim Cooper, and Lincoln Davis are still sitting in the "undecided/no comment" column.

The Speaker's threat/non-threat to kowtow to the GOP and pass a "clean bill" come Hell or high water is the only reason, if Congress just killed it and started over, that the bill could be any worse.

That approach might get a lukewarm bill passed, but it doesn't end the war any sooner, or even spark a meaningful debate. If Pelosi is spoiling for a veto fight, then it ought to be over something more substantial to the electorate than the conditional extension and funding of a failed policy. It's not a Pyhrric victory unless you're losing the fight over something that counts.

Who will be the last man or woman to die for a mistake? In the unlikely event this bill gets signed into law against Bush's veto threat, the Decider still decides, but only in the final days of his presidency. I don't have to tell you how that one is going to turn out, Dear Reader, you're already way ahead of me. That leaves us, and the soldiers overseas, no better off than where we started.

Cohen, Cooper, and Davis should vote their respective consciences. Is this their best shot at ending the war, or is this just more non-binding nonsense? Is the situation so desperately bad in Washington that this is the best the Democrats can do?