[NYTr] Calif Assembly votes to put Iraq pullout measure on ballot

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

[Given the huge funding request and Bush's "confidence" reported today
(previous item), this looks even more emptily symbolic than it did
before. -NYTr]

sent by Steven L. Robinson

AP via SF Chronicle - Aug 27, 2007
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/n/a/2007/08/27/state/n175944D67.DTL

California Assembly votes to put Iraq pullout measure on ballot

By Steve Lawrence,
Associated Press

Sacramento -- Putting Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in a tight political
position, the state Assembly voted Monday to place a measure on
California's Feb. 5 ballot urging President Bush to immediately
withdraw American troops from Iraq.

The 43-32 roll call left the proposal one step from Schwarzenegger's
desk. It was sent back to the Senate, which approved a slightly
different version of the bill in June.

Final approval by the Senate would send the bill to the Republican
governor, who could risk angering members of his own party by signing
it and putting it on the presidential primary ballot or veto the bill
and draw the wrath of the war's opponents.

The bill, by Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, asks
voters if Bush should "achieve the immediate, complete, safe and
orderly withdrawal of United States forces" from Iraq.

Schwarzenegger has tried to steer a middle course on the issue, saying
he supports the troops and the war on terror but also backs a
"timetable for withdrawal."

A spokesman for the governor, Aaron McLear, said Schwarzenegger had not
taken a position on the bill.

"We're aware of it," McLear said. "We have not reviewed the final
version. We will review it and obviously take a position and take
action on it."

The Assembly vote split mainly along party lines, with Democrats arguing
that the invasion of Iraq had been a disaster that had cost the United
States dearly in lives and dollars.

"If silence equals consent, we cannot remain silent anymore," said
Assemblywoman Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley. "We need to give the citizens of
California a concrete opportunity to express their hopes."

Assemblyman Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, said the decision to invade
Iraq was a "terrible mistake, one that's making our country weaker, not
stronger - one that's empowering terrorists."

But Republicans argued that an immediate withdrawal would threaten U.S.
troops, encourage terrorism and trigger more violence in the region.

"Yes I want to withdraw from Iraq," said Assemblyman Paul Cook, R-Yuca
Valley. "But I want to do it so we do not endanger those troops and ...
embolden certain elements."

The version approved in the Assembly would ask voters the following
question: "Shall President George W. Bush, in support of the men and
women serving in the Armed Forces of the United States, end the United
States occupation of Iraq and achieve the immediate, complete, safe and
orderly withdrawal of United States forces; and, further, shall
President George W. Bush and the Congress provide the necessary
diplomatic and nonmilitary assistance to promote peace and stability in
Iraq and the Middle East?"

Some Republicans charged that the bill was a cynical attempt by
Democrats to boost the turnout of voters who also might support an
initiative to modify legislators' term limits. The term-limits
initiative, which is intended for the Feb. 5 ballot, would allow Perata
and dozens of other lame-duck lawmakers to run for re-election next
year.

"This is a political poll being done for political reasons at a
politically expedient time," said Assemblyman John Benoit, R-Palm
Desert.

But Perata said he doubted that an advisory vote on the Iraq war would
translate into votes for the term limits initiative.

"I don't know if anything is going to help that," he told reporters.

While the Assembly was debating whether to pull out of Iraq, the Senate
approved a resolution urging the president to stop sending National
Guard troops to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The measure's author, Sen. Carole Migden, D-San Francisco, said members
of the National Guard are needed at home.

"We are plagued by earthquakes and wildfires" in California, Migden
said. "We don't have adequate resources, personnel."