Democrats attempt to use Republican rubber stamp & get burned

In a baffling attempt to completely cave in to president Bush on the Iraq supplemental bill, Democratic leaders tried to draft a bill that fully funded the surge strategy including a timeline without any teeth.

The president, illustrating that his idea of compromise is receiving a blank check, complained that the completely meaningless clause was too restrictive.

Democrats said they offered to strip billions of dollars in non-military spending from the bill and indicated that they would accept giving the president the option to waive any withdrawal deadlines. But those offers to compromise were rejected, Democrats said.

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), however, said he was shocked that Democrats insisted on keeping a withdrawal timeline in the bill.

John Boehner's idea of a tough negotiating position, is of course to include benchmarks with no teeth. And if the president's plan doesn't achieve those benchmarks?

A key Republican House leader said Sunday that if President Bush's current strategy in Iraq is not working by fall, members of Congress will demand to know what the White House's next plan is.

Tough stuff, John. Tough stuff.