Oh how I wish this guy could run for President and win. They’re worried about political comfort while our kids blood continues to spill. Makes me sick.

One of the Democrats leading anti-war voices accused his party of abandoning its priorities and ignoring the will of the American people in preparing to send the president a bill that would fund the Iraq war without requiring any consequences for a continued lack of progress there.

“I cannot support a bill that contains nothing more than toothless benchmarks and that allows the President to continue what may be the greatest foreign policy blunder in our nation’s history,” Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wisc., said in a statement released Tuesday. “There has been a lot of tough talk from members of Congress about wanting to end this war, but it looks like the desire for political comfort won out over real action.”

More at Raw Story

I’m with Feingold…..the resolution does nothing to actually stop the war.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid may be hoping for “near” unanimous Democratic support for the Levin-Warner anti-escalation resolution, but Russ Feingold says he’s not on board.

Feingold, who has introduced legislation that would cut off all funding for the war in Iraq, says in a statement: “I oppose the weak Warner-Levin resolution as currently written because it misunderstands the situation in Iraq and shortchanges our national security interests. The resolution rejects redeploying U.S. troops and supports moving a misguided military strategy from one part of Iraq to another. The American people have rejected the president’s Iraq strategy and it’s time for Congress to end our military involvement in this war. We must redeploy our troops from Iraq so that we can focus on the global threats that face us.”

Source

The Lone Wolf…..again. This guy is the ONLY person in congress who is willing to do the right thing. He voted against the war, he was vehemently against the Patriot Act, the Detainee Bill, and now he’s the only one willing to take action that will actually stop this war.

Senate Democrats oppose the war in Iraq, they just don’t plan on stopping it.

They have discovered that standing up to the president is not quite as easy as vilifying him.

Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., has decided, however, to challenge what he calls the “timidity” of Democratic leaders. He is going to introduce legislation cutting off funding for the Iraq war and he may do it, he told me, as early as this week.

I reached him by telephone Monday in Fond du Lac, Wis., where he was conducting one of his “Listening Sessions” with voters during a snowstorm.

I asked him whether Democratic voters were further to the left than their elected leaders, especially their presidential candidates, when it came to the war.

“That is not only true of Democrats,” Feingold said, “it is true of the public as a whole. The mainstream view of the American people is to get out of Iraq.”

Read more at Politico.com

How I wish this guy could run for President and win.

Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., has scheduled a hearing next Tuesday in his Judiciary Committee subcommittee to explore whether Congress has the authority to cut off funding for the U.S. military campaign in Iraq. The move comes as Congress prepares to vote on a congressional resolution opposing President Bush’s escalation of the war.

Feingold, a fierce war critic, will force Democrats to consider an option many consider politically suicidal: cutting off funds for the military campaign in Iraq. Democratic leaders have privately called on members to restrain from seeking any funding restrictions and focus instead on congressional resolutions condemning the Bush policy. The resolutions are nonbinding and therefore symbolic. [See "Bush Allies Warn Iraq Vote Could Harm War Plan, GOP Future"]

Republicans “would like this debate to be as whether or not we are going to be cutting off money for the troops,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid recently told The Politico. “The logical conclusion is that a lot of things can happen. But right now, the most important thing is to tell the president that what he has done with the escalation is wrong. And that’s what we are doing, bi-partisanly.”

Read more at Politico.com

From Senator Russ Feingold:

Greetings,

According to the latest news reports, in the coming days the President will address the nation about his intentions regarding the situation in Iraq. While the President ought to set forth a timetable to redeploy our troops out of Iraq as soon as possible, all signs point to a repackaged version of “stay the course,” possibly with an increased U.S. presence on the ground. That strategy simply doesn-t make sense. Our open-ended presence there only fuels the insurgency, and adding more troops with no end date in sight only adds more fuel to the fire.

Thanks to each and every one of you, starting today, Democrats now control Congress - and now is the time for us to lead. There is no higher foreign policy priority than making America safer and getting our nation back on track by redeploying our troops out of Iraq.

Co-Sponsor the Resolution to Redeploy Our Troops Out of Iraq

It has been almost two months since Americans went to the polls and rejected the President’s strategy in Iraq. Since then I’ve continued the fight we started in August 2005 when we were alone in demanding a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq. Today, in this new Democratic Congress, I have introduced legislation that would require the redeployment of U.S. troops from Iraq within six months.

The administration has repeatedly ignored recommendations for a timely redeployment of our forces currently fighting in Iraq. But it’s reckless to continue to devote so much of our resources to one nation while ignoring the growing threats we face elsewhere in the world. It is now time for Congress to work toward redeployment.

I’m asking for citizen co’sponsors from all 50 states to join my call for redeployment. I know the Progressive Patriots Community has always been by my side and I hope you-ll continue to work with me on this extremely important issue.

I will continue to work for a sensible foreign policy that refocuses our efforts from Iraq in order to continue the global fight against terrorist networks. Please co’sponsor my resolution to help send the message that we can’t afford to wait any longer. It’s time for Congress to take the necessary steps to fix our Iraq policy immediately.

Russ Feingoldon Keith Olbermann says Iraq Study Group report totally misses the point.