Bush, Dems Trade Barbs Over Bills

Mar 29, 08:02 AM

Current Headlines: By David Jackson

WASHINGTON -- President Bush and congressional Democrats traded claims Wednesday over which side voters will blame if the White House and Congress don't settle their dispute over an Iraq spending bill.

Bush again vowed to veto any bill that includes timetables to withdraw U.S. troops, saying Congress cannot use its spending power to "force me to accept restrictions on our commanders" that would make "defeat more likely."

"If Congress fails to pass a bill to fund our troops on the front lines, the American people will know who to hold responsible," Bush added in a speech to the National Cattlemen's Beef Association.

Bush is ignoring the will of voters who want troops brought home from Iraq, said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. "We have done what we believe the American people wanted us to do."

Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., sent the president a letter seeking negotiations. "We stand ready to work with you, but your threats to veto a bill that has not even been presented to you indicate that you may not be ready to work with us," the letter said.

The verbal barbs came a day after the Senate voted 50-48 to amend the Iraq spending plan and call for troop withdrawals by spring 2008. The Senate on Wednesday continued debating the overall bill, which provides more than $90 billion for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

The House has approved similar legislation that also includes a timetable for withdrawal. The House and Senate would have to work out differences before sending a final product to Bush.

Timetables would only encourage enemies in Iraq to "mark their calendars" and begin "plotting how to use their safe havens once we were to leave," Bush said.

Bush also protested unrelated domestic spending inserted in both the Senate and House bills, citing such "pork" as about $100 million for peanut and spinach farmers.

Bush used the speech to again defend his plan to increase troop levels in Baghdad. He stressed Pentagon concerns that money to pay for the Iraq war will run out in mid-April: "The clock is ticking for our troops in the field."

Pelosi said the bills do include money for the troops, as well as accountability for a conflict now opposed by most Americans. "They have lost faith in the president's handling of the war," she said.

Contributing: Kathy Kiely (c) Copyright 2005 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.