Breaking: Reid Yanks Defense Authorization Bill To Force GOP's Hand

TPM CAFE ^ | 7-18-07 | Greg Sargent

[tcrlaf]

Ratcheting up the stakes in the wake of the GOP's successful blocking of a vote on Iraq withdrawal just moments ago, Harry Reid just announced on the Senate floor that he won't allow a vote on the entire Defense Authorization bill until the Senate GOP drops its filibustering of votes on Iraq.

The move is significant because it could hold up the funding of the Pentagon's fiscal 2008 priorities until the standoff is resolved.

It comes only moments after the Republican filibuster succeeded in preventing a vote on the Reed-Levin amendment, which would have mandated withdrawal by April 2008.

Reid said:

I have temporarily laid aside the Defense Authorization bill and have entered a motion to reconsider.

But let me be clear to my Republican colleagues – I emphasize the word "temporarily". We will do everything in our power to change course in Iraq. We will do everything in our power to complete consideration of a Defense Authorization bill. We must do both.

And just to remind my Republican colleagues – even if this bill had passed yesterday, its provisions would not take effect until October.

So we will come back to this bill as soon as it is clear we can make real progress. To that end, I have asked the Democratic Whip and Democratic Manager of the bill to sit down with their counterparts to work on a process to address all outstanding issues related to this bill so the Senate can return to it as soon as possible.

What this means is that Reid isn't allowing any votes on any other Iraq amendments -- not the toothless Warner-Lugar amendment, not the Ken Salazar amendment that would force adoption of the Baker-Hamilton plan, nothing.

Fellow TPM reporter Spencer Ackerman also says that Reid's move is very significant in another way:

Because the Pentagon's priorities won't become law until a Defense Authorization bill is passed, the Pentagon's fiscal 08 priorities won't get funded until this standoff is resolved -- and Reid is insisting that won't happen until the GOP allows a vote on the Iraq withdrawal measures.

More soon.

[1COUNTER-MORTER-68]

[Miss Didi]

[LZ_Bayonet]

Levin won't do it!
5-3-07:

"Democrats, including Carl Levin, have already stated that they will fund the troops no matter what, showing that despite differences with the Bush administration they will not stop funding the war as a means of ending it.

Democratic House Majority Leader Stony Hoyer said that "we are going to fund the troops, we are not going to leave our troops in harm's way without the resources that they need."

Michigan Senator Carl Levin made a similar statement last month, saying, "We're not going to vote to cut funding. Period."

http://www.mediamouse.org/features/050307michi.php

[GeorgiaDawg32]

[KC Burke]

I know on votes along that party line, Cheney would break ties.

I seem to remember that the Majority Leader is set in some strange way when the caucus sizes are tied, however.

[jveritas]

In May of 2007 the President and the Republicans forced the traitors and defeatists to approve 100 billions dollars to fund the war in Iraq and Afghanistan and forced them to take out the surrender date from the bill. With the current rate of weekly spending in the war, these funds should last for almost a year i.e. the troops will have money to fight the war in both theaters at least until next April, not to take in considerations the emergency money that the President can allocate without approval of Congress to fund the troops, so there is plenty of money to last for a long time to help our brave troops fight the islamic terrorists.

[Raycpa]

Its the Trent Lott rule. When you have the majority by 1, you must give 1/2 of your power away to make it fair.

[CHEE]

I wish there was someway we could get the e-mail address of every Battalion sized unit in the Iraq theater and start a mass message support campaign to let the Troops that we believe and care.

[Raycpa]

Its not about the military spending. Its about the pork disguised as military funding.

[OldCorps]

“I will hold paychecks of troops being shot at to ensure that we capitulate to Al Qaeda!”

Exactly! Democrats don't give a damn about soldiers.

[RatsDawg]

Yeah, I am sure they will keep their word...

[1035rep]

bttt

[processing please hold]

hahahahahahaha. Love your tagline.

[From One - Many]

if the demonrats had their way we would be praying 5 times a day toward a moon rock.

[tobyhill]

http://rules.house.gov/archives/98-844.pdf

“The most recent shutdowns occurred in FY1996. There were two during the early part of the fiscal year. The first, November 14-19, 1995, resulted in the furlough of an
estimated 800,000 federal employees. It was caused by the expiration of a continuing funding resolution (P.L. 104-31) agreed to on September 30, 1995, and by President Clinton’s veto of a second continuing resolution and a debt limit extension bill.”

If for some reason a continual resolution is not passed or vetoed then Defense Authorization turns into an essential service and can be funded as a loan.

[GeorgiaDawg32]

Harry Reid comments from the floor of the Senate:

[Allegra]

I do not know words foul enough to describe how I feel about Harry Reid.

[enough_idiocy]

Then the surge report will be in by then, and even earlier than that we’ll have metrics to use against them. if the surge is working, this is a losing battle for them in the long run, unless enough senators get weak in the knees before then. Otherwise, we can wait them out, no?

[Calpernia]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1823537/posts
Hunter calls for Reid to step down over ‘war is lost’ remarks

Excerpt:

[Duncan] Hunter, a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, is the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee.

“In my opinion Sen. Reid, having made that statement, which can only have a demoralizing effect on our troops and an effect of encouragement of the adversary, I think it would be appropriate for Sen. Reid to resign his position as the leader of the United States Senate,” he said.

[JayAr36]

Definition:
Democrats; Terrorism’s first line of defense.
MSM; Terrorism’s spy agency.