HANDCUFFING THE TROOPS

By Michelle Malkin

The Senate passes the Retreat Deadline bill.

Forty-eight Democrats and independent Bernard Sanders of Vermont were joined by two Republicans, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Gordon Smith of Oregon, in voting for the measure. Opposed were 46 Republicans and Connecticut independent Joseph Lieberman.

Sens. Mike Enzi, R-Wy., and Tim Johnson, D-S.D., did not vote.

Hello, veto.

***

N.Z. Bear at Victory Caucus notes that Congress is in such an urgent state of emergency over the war spending bill that it's going on Spring Break:

So what happens now? Well, President Bush has made crystal clear that he will veto the bill. But he won't even get a chance for several weeks. The Democratic leadership have decided to stick to the normal (read: non-emergency) calendar, and so Congress is now heading home for Spring Break. Once they return, the Senate bill still needs to be reconciled with the House version, and so the final bill won't make it to President Bush's desk until at least mid-April.

Meanwhile, our troops are waiting. So it turns out that according to the Democratic leadership, funding for the Tree Assistance Program, sugar beets , and the Ewe Lamb Replacement and Retention Program are all "emergencies". But there's nothing urgent at all about actually getting funds to our soldiers on the battlefield.

Party on.