No timetables. Period.

President Bush is sticking to his guns on one issue. No timetable. Period.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democratic congressional leaders on Friday offered the first concessions in a fight with President Bush over a spending bill for Iraq, but the White House turned them down.

The Democrats, in a meeting with Bush's top aides on Capitol Hill, said they would strip from a war spending bill billions of dollars in domestic spending that the White House had opposed. They also pledged to give Bush authority to waive compliance with a timetable to pull combat troops out of Iraq.

But no agreement emerged.

"To say I was disappointed in the meeting is an understatement," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada.

White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten, who rejected the deal, said any timetable on the war would undermine the nation's efforts in Iraq.

"We consider that to be not a significant distinction," he said. "Whether waivable or not, timelines send the wrong signal."

I hate the idea of cutting and running to begin with, and to add conditions and expectations to the dollar symbol on any legislation is bad for the troops, bad for America. The Democrats want to keep America's image of being weak alive and well.