The good news is, the House narrowly passed an Iraq funding bill with some key provisions that many Americans have been demanding for quite a while now, including a withdrawal timeline. The bad news is, the chances of the measure becoming law are almost zero.
The measure, part of a bill that would provide $50 billion to fund the war over the next four months, was passed 218 to 203, with one member voting present. It provides about one-quarter of Bush’s 2008 request for $196 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“We want a plan in Iraq. . . . We want stability in the Middle East,” Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.), chairman of the Appropriations defense subcommittee, said minutes before the vote. “We want to put a plan in place that holds the president accountable.”
The White House suggested the bill was catering to the demands of "radical groups," which just so happens to include the majority of Americans.
The development to watch, at this point, is whether Senate Dems push Senate Republicans to literally filibuster the spending bill. The leadership is apparently considering it, and it would, at a minimum, push the debate to a new level.
