Democrats Won't Temper Iraq Legislation

[Rose Siding]

Source: AP via SFGate

After weeks of suggesting Democrats would temper their approach to Iraq legislation in a bid to attract more Republicans, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid declared abruptly Tuesday that he had no plans to do so.

The Democratic leader said he will call for a vote this month on several anti-war proposals, including one by Sen. Carl Levin that would insist President Bush end U.S. combat next summer. The proposals would be mandatory and not leave Bush wiggle room, said Reid, D-Nev.

"There (are) no goals. It's all definite timelines," he told reporters of the planned legislation.
.......
Reid's hardline stance, announced after the party's weekly policy lunch on Tuesday, reflects a calculation by Democrats that Levin's proposal probably would have failed either way......When asked why Democrats won't soften the deadline, the majority leader said he doesn't have confidence Republicans are willing to challenge Bush on the war.

"I think they've decided definitely they want this to be the Senate Republicans' war, not just Bush's. They're jealous," he said with a smile.



Read more: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/09/18/national/w131138D56.DTL