And how is this supposed to work in a “compromise”?

President Bush will not support a war spending bill that punishes the Iraqi government for failing to meet benchmarks for progress, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday.

Rice’s comments cast fresh doubt on a potential compromise between the Democratic-led Congress and the White House in getting money to U.S. troops.

Also, with a regional conference on Iraq set to begin Thursday in Egypt, Rice raised the possibility of a rare direct encounter between high-level U.S. and Iranian officials. Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki is expected to lead his country’s delegation.

“I will not rule out that we may encounter one another,” Rice said. “But what do we need to do? It’s quite obvious. Stop the flow of arms to foreign fighters. Stop the flow of foreign fighters across the borders.”

Make no mistake about it, Bush wants no compromise. Bush plans on continuing to dictate the conditions of his funding bill. Ironic that our forefathers purposely granted the power of the purse to the Congress to prevent such a dictatorship. If that wasn’t the case then Bush would not have to go to Congress for the money – he would have it.

I believe it is time to take a page from the old Republican play book. With Bush acting like a dictator, he is obviously trying to lessen the meaning of our democracy. A democratic nation is a free nation and we were attacked on 9/11 because “they hate our freedoms” (in the world according to Republicans). So why is Bush and his Republicans trying the treasonous act of supporting the mantra of our true enemy – al Qaeda? Maybe Rudy has an answer to that one.