It Ain't Over Till It's Over

The Democratic leadership in the House and Senate have formulated an Iraq war funding bill with no timelines, an extremely weak enforcement mechanism for benchmarks, an increase in the minimum wage, and about $20 billion in domestic spending.

If the bill passes, it will represent an almost complete capitulation of the Democratic leadership to President Bush's demands.

But I'm beginning to wonder the war funding bill actually is going to pass. Nancy Pelosi has already said that she would vote against it which makes me wonder if the Speaker's office is going to "whip" the legislation (twist arms to ensure that it will pass) and ultimately whether the legislation will pass without leadership support. Depending on Republican votes to make up for liberal defections doesn't seem to be an entirely reliable mechanism for passing the legislation either.

Ultimately, there's some chance that Congress can't pass a war funding bill that Bush would be willing to sign.