There have only been two vetoes in President Bush’s reign, the stem cell bill and the Iraq funding bill that would require a timetable. Obviously Iraq spending is something Bush holds close to his heart, so how could we ensure another veto? Simple, actually: don’t set a timetable, but put in a clause that gives Congress the ability to withhold funds if conditions don’t improve.

White House press secretary Tony Snow said Wednesday that the Democrats’ latest version of the measure is unacceptable.

The Democrats’ proposal would pay for the war through July, then give Congress the option of cutting off money after that if conditions do not improve. Mr. Bush requested more than $90 billion to fund the war through September.

“There are restrictions on funding and there are also some of the spending items that were mentioned in the first veto message that are still in the bill,” Snow said on Air Force One traveling with Mr. Bush.

Two incredibly blatant points here:

1. Bush apparently wants control of the war himself. Clearly he doesn’t want Congress to put a deadline, and now he doesn’t want Congress to be able to have dynamic control of the money. It seems that handing control of the war over to anyone else is out of the question. After all, not fully funding it is unpatriotic.
2. Bush doesn’t think conditions will improve. The only time someone will reject a proposal that hinges upon something is when they don’t believe that something will come to pass. Clearly the president doesn’t believe conditions will improve or he wouldn’t have a problem with that clause being in the measure.

Also, today’s example of the White House claiming “cooperation” where none exists.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said White House chief of staff Josh Bolten had “another good meeting” with Senate leaders on the matter.

“We remain hopeful we can achieve a deal, and the president’s chief of staff remains open to meeting with anyone, anytime, anywhere to bring closure to this process,” she said.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., emerged from the closed-door meeting to say no deal was struck.

Keep in mind Bush cooperates the way a small child does: defining it as when everyone else finally agrees with him. So undoubtedly it was a good meeting because they didn’t budge. At least that’s my own assumption.

End of the day, though, this is hardly news. Bush doesn’t want the war to end, and he’s not going to accept anything that hands over even a small part of control to Congress. He’s The Decider, after all.