Richard Tafoya
Apr 10th, 2007, 06:53 PM
LA Times:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-ex-bush10apr10,0,2061814.story?coll=la-home-headlines
President Bush today invited congressional leaders of both parties to the White House next week to talk about legislation to pay for the war in Iraq, but Democrats promptly dismissed his offer because it carried a condition that Congress drop a timetable for withdrawing American forces from Iraq.
...
But congressional Democrats showed no sign of accepting Bush's formula for a White House meeting. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) complained that Bush was setting non-negotiable conditions for the talks.
"He wants a clean bill," Reid said after consulting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco). "That's not negotiating."
He said Bush was accustomed to a "rubber-stamp" Congress that approved everything the White House sought. But conditions have changed, he said, since Democrats took control in last November's elections.
...
The Senate and House have each approved measures that would give the administration about $103 billion in new money for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The two versions set different timelines for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq. The Senate bill would set a nonbinding target of pulling out all combat troops by March 31, 2008, while the House bill would set a deadline of Aug. 31, 2008, for complete withdrawal.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-ex-bush10apr10,0,2061814.story?coll=la-home-headlines
President Bush today invited congressional leaders of both parties to the White House next week to talk about legislation to pay for the war in Iraq, but Democrats promptly dismissed his offer because it carried a condition that Congress drop a timetable for withdrawing American forces from Iraq.
...
But congressional Democrats showed no sign of accepting Bush's formula for a White House meeting. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) complained that Bush was setting non-negotiable conditions for the talks.
"He wants a clean bill," Reid said after consulting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco). "That's not negotiating."
He said Bush was accustomed to a "rubber-stamp" Congress that approved everything the White House sought. But conditions have changed, he said, since Democrats took control in last November's elections.
...
The Senate and House have each approved measures that would give the administration about $103 billion in new money for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The two versions set different timelines for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq. The Senate bill would set a nonbinding target of pulling out all combat troops by March 31, 2008, while the House bill would set a deadline of Aug. 31, 2008, for complete withdrawal.