Democrats Cave On FISA and War Funding... Again

Once again, Congressional Democrats simply can't muster the votes or the backbone to stand up for the principles they claim to have. Their most vocal members have wanted to stop the funding of the war.

They couldn't do that.

They tried to radically amend FISA.

They couldn't do that either.

No, what happened is that the lame duck president and a GOP minority were able to not only hold the line, but get timetables stripped from the war funding measures. The Administration got what it wanted, albeit months late.

The Democratic-led Congress authorized more Iraq war spending on Friday, sending President Bush a defense bill requiring no change in strategy after failing again to impose a timetable for U.S. troop withdrawals.

The defense policy bill, approved 90-3 by the Senate, also expanded the size of the U.S. Army and set conditions on the Bush administration’s plan to build a missile defense system in Europe.

The measure already had passed the House and now goes to Bush, who is expected to sign it into law. It authorizes Pentagon programs expected to cost $506.9 billion during fiscal 2008, which began in October.

The bill authorized another $189.4 billion for the Iraq and Afghan wars, for which Congress has already approved some $600 billion. But it does not deliver the new money. That is done by appropriations legislation at the center of a big dispute on Capitol Hill.

The Senate voted 90-3 to fund the war effort and the military budget. Voting against? Byrd, Feingold, and Saunders.

Those unable to muster the backbone to vote on the measure: presidential candidates Biden (D-DE), Clinton (D-NY), Dodd (D-CT), McCain (R-AZ), and Obama (D-IL). Running for president apparently means missing important votes that might have to be explained to voters before the general election. Boxer (D-CA) and Inouye (D-HI) also didn't vote.

It also looks like Congress is going to cave to the Administration on FISA.

Congress enjoys playing games with the war funding and national security matters, which helps explain why no one actually approves of the job Congress is doing. The transparent leftist agenda by the Democrats has soured most everyone on Congress and the leadership by Pelosi and Reid - leftist Democrats don't like the job they're doing because they can't follow through on their promises, and everyone else doesn't like the job they're doing because they are trying to follow through on those same promises.

And what makes this especially interesting is that it comes in the form of a Friday Night news dump. The Democrats had to bury this information so that their base didn't go completely nuts (again). Indeed, far from running headlines, the New York Times has only a minor link to it on their front page - precisely because passing the budget with no strings attached is yet another stinging defeat for the Democrats but a victory for the Administration and those who want to see the war effort through to completion and victory.

Others blogging: Michelle Malkin, Gateway Pundit, Blue Star Chronicles.