Bush blames Congress for his veto on troop funding bill

President Bush walks away from the podium afters addressing the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, Wednesday, March 28, 2007, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Okay, this is just totally crazy here! Let's start with this Washington Post story on the Senate passing of a troop withdrawal timetable on a war funding bill:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate on Tuesday endorsed a March 31, 2008, target date for withdrawing American combat troops from Iraq, prompting the White House to threaten a veto and moving Congress a step closer to a showdown with President George W. Bush over the war.

By a vote of 50-48, the Senate defeated an amendment that would have stricken the withdrawal language from a $121.6 billion bill that mostly would fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

[....]

The Senate troop withdrawal vote came four days after the House passed its version of a war-spending bill setting a mandatory September 1, 2008, deadline for getting all U.S. combat troops out of Iraq.

Under the Senate bill, which is still being debated, the United States would begin a phased withdrawal of troops this year with the goal, not the requirement, that it be completed by March 31, 2008.

Tuesday's vote in the Senate marked progress for Democrats in that chamber, who failed recently to pass a similar, nonbinding resolution calling for a troop withdrawal.

Now let's get President Bush's response to both the Senate and House bills--yes, he's going to veto it. From The New York Times:

WASHINGTON, March 28 — With both houses of Congress now firmly on record in favor of withdrawing from Iraq, President Bush vowed Wednesday not to negotiate a timetable with Democrats, and a confrontation appeared inevitable as each side prepared to blame the other for delays in providing money for the war.

“Now, some of them believe that by delaying funding for our troops, they can force me to accept restrictions on our commanders that I believe would make withdrawal and defeat more likely,” Mr. Bush told an audience of cattlemen and ranchers. “That’s not going to happen. If Congress fails to pass a bill to fund our troops on the front lines, the American people will know who to hold responsible.”

[....]

The House approved its version of the spending bill last week, and the Senate was expected to approve its version on Thursday. Democrats said they were ready to begin House-Senate negotiations quickly to produce a final version to send to the president.

The two war funding bills haven't even gotten through the House-Senate negotiations, and Bush is already planning on vetoing it. And what is even more insane is that Bush is blaming the Democrats in Congress for his veto. Because this Democratic Congress would not give President Bush the war funding that he desired without any restrictions. Because this Democratic Congress isn't playing the GOP rubber-stamp that President Bush relied on for the past six years. President Bush considers compromise as a sign of weakness and defeat. Therefore, Bush is ready for an old-fashioned, Texas showdown on Pennsylvania Avenue at high noon. The Democrats in Congress have obliged in providing Bush his showdown.



At high noon....