Scents of the Senate

Scents of the Senate is what I call when the Knee Jerkers need to make a stink over something they have absolutely no power to change.

Senate Democratic leaders, including armed services committee chairman Carl Levin of Michigan and foreign relations committee chairman Joseph Biden of Delaware, are drafting a nonbinding “sense of Congress” resolution opposing the troop increase that Levin said will be designed to gain Republican votes. Dodd will offer his binding legislation to limit funds as an amendment, his aides said.

“The president seems determined to continue his failed policy in Iraq by escalating U.S. military involvement there,” Dodd said. “The president no longer has the luxury of dismissing Congress. Congress is a co-equal branch of government and the time for blank checks is over. Congress needs to act urgently on this matter before we send additional troops into harm’s way.”

Caps similar to what Dodd is proposing have been used in the past to limit deployments when Congress disagreed with executive branch plans for specific military operations, including in Vietnam in 1973, Lebanon in 1983, Europe in 1984 and in Colombia in 2000.

I think I'm on board with McCain, this is a half-assed action. If you want to stop it stand up and prove it. They still see no obligation to provide alternatives, and for the most part, they still are just fuming.