How many people in the government does it take...

This isn't a light bulb joke. I was wondering how many people in the government does it take to get our troops out of Iraq? Would you believe the number is 285?

Here's the break down:

• 217 members of the House of Representatives to pass Articles of Impeachment against Bush and Cheney.
• 67 Senators to vote for convictions.
• Nancy Pelosi to order the troops home.

And since Nancy Pelosi could be one of the 217, the number is really only 284.

News From New Mexico

On February 16, 2007 the Rules Committee of the New Mexico Senate met to debate and vote on Senate Joint Resolution 5, petitioning congress to commence the investigation of and impeachment proceedings against President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard B. Cheney.

Unfortunately, there was no debate since the Republicans on the Committee boycotted the meeting. But would you have shown up if you were a Republican? The President's record is impossible to defend. I guess they felt it better to simply consent by their silence.

The resolution has passed the first step, and will now go to the full Senate for debate and a vote.

Back from the Holidays

Yeah, I took a couple of weeks off for Thanksgiving, but I'm back. That however is not what the title of this post is really about. It really refers to the January, when Congress comes back from the holidays. Then the fun begins.

Over my holiday I came across a few things that deserve mention here. The first was a question by a reporter on NPR of whether or not the Democrat would use their new majority to block the nomination of Robert Gates as the new Secretary of Defense. I expect better from NPR. The Democrats do not have a majority in either house until January, when the new Congress is sworn in.

That brings up the next point. Rep. Henry Waxman (D - California) has been trying for years to subpoena the records and other documentation and testimony on the Halliburton contracts with the Pentagon and what influence Dick Cheney may have had on the process. The Republicans have blocked him every time. Come January he will chair the committee, issue the subpoenas and hold the hearings. For what it's worth, a question from Sen. Patrick Leahy (D –Vermont) about the Halliburton contracts is what triggered Cheney’s, “Go f*** yourself!” response. Could it be there is something there worth investigating?

I would not be surprised if Cheney is gone by July. And once Congress wakes up and realizes they can take on the administration, Bush won’t be far behind.

One more point – Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D - Ohio) will chair a subcommittee that may “reopen” the investigation into 9/11 (i.e., may do a real investigation, not just a whitewash). Given his level of integrity, I hope it happens. If it does, it will be worth watching. Any true investigation will supply even more fuel to an impeachment firestorm.

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