I wonder how this is going to pan out? Either way, this man deserves applause for trying!

Kennedy fights ‘immense new mistake’ of troop surge

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Sen. Edward Kennedy launched a pre-emptive strike on Tuesday against President Bush’s anticipated plans to send more troops to Iraq.

The Massachusetts Democrat introduced legislation to require congressional approval before force levels can be increased, more than a day before the president is expected to propose such an increase.

Bush is to address the nation Wednesday night with details of his new Iraq policy, which reportedly includes a plan to send at least 20,000 troops to curb the escalating violence there.

Kennedy, a leading opponent of the war and senior member of the Armed Services Committee, said any troop surge would be “an immense new mistake.”

Kennedy said he introduced the legislation “to reclaim the rightful role of Congress and the people’s right to a full voice in the president’s plan to send more troops to Iraq.”

He added that the bill says “that no additional troops can be sent and no additional dollars can be spent on such an escalation unless and until Congress approves the president’s plan.”

Source: CNN.com

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The incoming Democratic chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee promised on Wednesday to combat what he denounced as President George W. Bush’s war-time trampling of American rights.

“We have a duty to repair real damage done to our system of government over the last few years,” Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont said in outlining his panel’s agenda for the 110th, Democratic-led Congress, which is set to convene on January 4.

“Americans’ privacy is a price the Bush administration is willing to pay for the cavalier way it is spawning new databanks. But privacy rights belong to the people, not to the government,” Leahy said.

Leahy made the comments in a speech entitled, “Ensuring Liberty and Security Through Checks and Balances,” to be delivered at the Georgetown University Law Center.

Leahy and other Democrats have complained about Bush’s tactics in the war on terror, particularly the Republican president’s warrantless domestic spying program that Democrats and some Republicans say violates the law.

Read more at Reuters