Dems are backing off

In the battle between President Bush and the new Democrat leaders in Washington, the new Democrats are being forced to back down.

Democratic leaders are stripping from a military spending bill for the war in Iraq a requirement that President Bush gain approval from Congress before moving against Iran.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and other leaders agreed to remove the requirement concerning Iran after conservative Democrats as well as other lawmakers worried about its possible impact on Israel, officials said Monday.

The Democrats are backing down. Perhaps cooler heads are beginning to prevail on the Democrats side of the aisle.

Less than two months ago- Reid and Pelosi were declaring that Bush has "no authority" to launch any military options against Iran.

As you can see, the Dems had to rethink this strategy because their are others in their own caucus that are not supporting this.

Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said in an interview that there is widespread fear in Israel about Iran, which is believed to be seeking nuclear weapons and has expressed unremitting hostility about the Jewish state.

"It would take away perhaps the most important negotiating tool that the U.S. has when it comes to Iran," she said of the now-abandoned provision.

"I didn't think it was a very wise idea to take things off the table if you're trying to get people to modify their behavior and normalize it in a civilized way," said Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y.

Several officials said there was widespread opposition to the proposal at a closed-door meeting last week of conservative and moderate Democrats, who said they feared tying the hands of the administration when dealing with an unpredictable and potentially hostile regime in Tehran.

Next on the Democrats chopping block?

It appears that the Democrats may also have to back down from their own time line they created for withdrawing troops from Iraq.

Even as the media is touting the additional provision for withdrawing troops in Iraq, we now see that this may be in danger of being removed also-

The overall bill — which requires that the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq by Sept. 1, 2008, if not earlier — remained on schedule for an initial test vote Thursday in the House Appropriations Committee.

There appears to be some Democratic opposition to this plan-

"This supplemental should be about supporting the troops and providing what they need," Rep. Dan Boren, D-Okla., said Monday upon returning from Iraq. Boren said he plans to oppose any legislation setting a clear deadline for troops to leave.

Let's hope that calmer, cooler and brighter minds prevail in the Democratic caucus.

As it is, all we have heard from the Democrats is constant shrieking about Iraq since they have taken over.

The MoveOn.org people have such a strangle hold on the Democrats, that the Democrats are now beginning to look foolish.