The Out of Iraq caucus is beginning to get some movement out of the timid Dem leadership in the House, succesfully pushing back the retrograde Blue Dogs:

Under the deal, to be formally drafted by the Appropriations Committee next week, Congress would institute the same tough benchmarks for the Iraqi government that Bush detailed in a national address in January. Under those benchmarks, the Iraqi government would have to take responsibility for security in all of Iraq's provinces by November, and adopt and implement oil-revenue-sharing legislation. . . . Bush would have to certify the benchmarks are met by year's end. If not, troops would begin leaving Iraq next spring, with all troops out of combat by the fall, a senior Democratic aide said.

Now this is a terrible proposal because it allows Bush to get off the hook by "certifying" benchmarks are met. Simply unacceptable. But certainly better than just a few days ago. The pressure must continue to build from the Out of Iraq Caucus, the grassroots AND the Netroots. We need to disabuse the Blue Dog notion expressed here:

"The war is the issue, but it's the president's issue, not ours," [Rep.] Boren said.