For all their attacks on the White House over its use of war powers, Democrats aren't about to block Bush on troop levels in Iraq.

From TIME on "The Dems: More Bark Than Bite:"

[W]hen it comes to actually taking any action to check Bush's war powers, there's not much bite to the Democrats' bark. Which raises the question: will Democrats use their new power to rein in what they say is an overreaching President? Or will they choose to continue what proved to be a successful political strategy when they were in the minority: criticizing the Administration for unpopular policies while avoiding taking action themselves that could prove equally unpopular?

On Iraq, Hill Democrats have chosen the latter course. Sen. Edward Kennedy yesterday introduced a bill to block funding for deploying additional troops to Iraq. But Reid and the Democratic leadership prefer a non-binding, "sense-of-the-Senate" resolution opposing the troop increase that is designed to embarrass Bush by peeling off dissenting Republicans, without actually taking any action to block the move. Kennedy's proposal, leadership aides say, is a stalking horse designed in part to placate the base by attacking Bush while leaving Democrats who support the leadership's alternative safe from accusations they don't back the troops.