Withdrawal bill passes Senate. Bush says veto.

"Issuing a stinging challenge to President Bush, the Senate on Thursday approved a spending measure that provided more than $97.5 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan but ordered troop withdrawals from Iraq to begin within 120 days and set a goal of removing most armed forces within a year.
Democrats, preparing for a veto fight, immediately sought to paint the president as obstinate in the face of broad public sentiment against the war. They said he would be the one abandoning American forces should he reject a final bill that lawmakers expected to produce in a few weeks.
. . . But Mr. Bush was not wavering. He stood on the North Portico of the White House, flanked by Republican House leaders, and delivered his veto threat one more time."

source
Hulse, Carl & Zeleny, Jeff. (The New York Times). Defying Bush, Senate Passes Iraq Spending Measure. March 30, 2007.

posted: saturday, march 31, 2007, 5:47 PM ET

tags: iraq senate withdrawal

Senate debate quashed; Dems shun fund cut debate for now

"The fact that . . . Democrats could pull together only 49 of the 60 votes needed to break a procedural impasse on the resolution opposing Mr. Bush’s plan was a product of many competing agendas.
There was the Democratic desire to avoid getting tied up on any vote that could be perceived as undercutting United States troops or endorsing Mr. Bush’s plan. At the same time, a surprising number of Republicans showed they were not yet ready to abandon the president even though many blame him for their November election losses and worry he will hurt them again next year. Then there were the presidential ambitions of several senators who are trying to distinguish themselves from others on the issue.
. . . [Republicans] knew that the bipartisan plan . . . did not have 60 votes. But the plan calling for no reductions in spending . . . was likely to get at least 60, meaning the only resolution that would have passed would have been one that essentially backed the president.
Most Democrats are not ready to begin the politically charged discussion of restricting war spending."

source
Hulse, Carl. (The New York Times). Many Voices, No Debate, as Senate Is Stifled on War. February 7, 2007.

posted: friday, february 9, 2007, 10:29 PM ET

tags: iraq senate surge

Sen. Tim Johnson suffers brain hemorrhage; Democrats' majority threatened

"Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) was in surgery last night after falling ill at the Capitol, introducing a note of uncertainty over control of the Senate just weeks before Democrats are to take over with a one-vote margin.
Johnson, 59, was taken to George Washington University Hospital shortly after noon, where he underwent "a comprehensive evaluation by the stroke team," his office said.
. . . With Johnson in office, Democrats would hold a 51-to-49 edge in the Senate that convenes Jan. 4 as part of the 110th Congress. . . . But if he is to leave office before then and [South Dakota's Republican governor, Michael] Rounds replaces him with a Republican, the GOP would control the chamber.
In a 50-50 Senate, Vice President Cheney could break tie votes in the GOP's favor. But a Senate that becomes evenly split after it is in session would not necessarily fall to Republicans, Senate historians said." [1]

"The attending physician of the Capitol, Adm. John F. Eisold, who examined Mr. Johnson before he was sent to the hospital Wednesday, said the bleeding was caused by a rare tangling of the blood vessels in the brain, known as a congenital arteriovenous malformation, that physicians say often goes undetected. The operation successfully drained the blood and stabilized the problem, Admiral Eisold said in a statement released by Mr. Johnson’s office.
. . . An estimated 300,000 Americans have arteriovenous malformations, said Dr. Jay P. Mohr, the principal investigator in a National Institutes of Health study of the condition and the director of the stroke center at Columbia University Medical Center. Most cases go undetected, Dr. Mohr said, and there is bleeding in only about 30,000. Of the patients with bleeding, Dr. Mohr said, only about 10 percent to 20 percent suffer damage severe enough that they can no longer function as they did before. About half are left with such minor problems, he said, that 'they aren’t sure they had a stroke.' " [2]

sources
[1] The Washington Post. Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson Falls Ill, Undergoes Surgery. December 14, 2006.
[2] The New York Times. Ill Senator Is Called Responsive; Capital Is Riveted. December 15, 2006.

posted: sunday, december 17, 2006, 1:28 PM ET
update: sunday, december 17, 2006, 2:06 PM ET

brain illness senate tim johnson arteriovenous malformation