Rejected 53-45, or 15 votes short of what was needed to even pass it.

The Senate on Friday blocked a Democratic proposal to pay for the Iraq war but require that troops start coming home.

The 53-45 vote was 15 votes short of the 60 needed to advance. It came minutes after the Senate rejected a Republican proposal to pay for the Iraq war without strings attached.

The Republican measure failed by an identical vote.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the only way to get troops the money was to approve the restrictions outlined by Democrats.

“Our troops continue to fight and die valiantly. And our Treasury continues to be depleted rapidly, for a peace that we seem far more interested in achieving than Iraq’s own political leaders,” said Reid, D-Nev.

Michelle Malkin:

63 votes on Iraq, more than 280 days since President Bush requested the emergency war funding.

And…nada.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving turkey, Harry.

I think I’ve got a new slogan all worked out for them. Here it goes: Democrats: Playing Political Games with War Funding, While Troops Are in Harm’s Way. Not catchy, granted, but it’d go a long way for their “most honest” Congress pledge.

More: On of Michelle’s commentators links to this, relevant to Dingy Harry’s lecture on the Treasury being “depleted rapidly”.

The U.S. budget deficit fell to the lowest level in five years last week, but three of America’s leading newspapers — the New York Times, Washington Post and Los Angeles Times — couldn’t find the space to mention the dramatic drop.

Journalists who have spent years trashing President Bush’s tax cuts appeared to suddenly lose interest when the budget picture brightened. That’s not surprising, however, considering that mainstream reporters frequently ignore upbeat economic news…

Despite the pessimistic attitude of the press, the U.S. economy keeps ticking. Last week’s encouraging news about the deficit was another indication that the economy is prospering thanks to Bush’s tax cuts, which encouraged economic growth and, as a result, brought in higher revenues to the federal treasury…

The deficit now stands at $163 billion or 1.2 percent of the economy. That’s half of the 40-year average of 2.4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). By comparison, during former President Ronald Reagan’s administration, the deficit averaged 4.2 percent of GDP.

For three consecutive years under Bush, the deficit has fallen by $250 billion, putting the federal treasury on course for a surplus in 2012.

I can’t believe I didn’t hear about this on the nightly news! Oh, wait…yes I can.