Obey plans fight over war funding.
House Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D-WI) said today that he will not report out a war supplemental spending bill this year unless the White House makes drastic changes in its Iraq strategy. Obey demanded three conditions: 1) the White House would have to establish a goal to end U.S. involvement in the country, 2) ensure that troops receive adequate downtime between deployments, and 3) begin a “broad scale diplomatic offensive” involving other countries in the region. Obey also said he will soon unveil a “surtax,” designed to raise $140 billion to $150 billion. “We need to stop pretending that this war doesn’t cost anything,” he said.
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50 Responses to “Obey plans fight over war funding.”
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Put a surtax on guns, ammo, and bibles.
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:15 pmObey is a phony chairman.
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:17 pmI am not holding my breath, I am pleased that he is willing to ask a few questions, but unless he sticks with it, it is another phony show.
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:18 pmGive ‘em a right cross Obey, followed by a hay-maker uppercut.
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:18 pmYep, you can list them as sin tax right along with cigarettes and alcohol, because people are addicted to all of the above.
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:19 pmHeard on Rachel Maddow’s show last week.
No more funding bills, none.
Not one red cent.
Let the pentagon divert whatever they want, but no more funding.
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:20 pmThat’s the only leverage Congress has to check and balance the policy of the nation. Use it.
Didn’t the democrats say just a few weeks ago that they wouldn’t fund the war anymore?? So much for that, eh?
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:22 pmIt’s about time. Any bite to go with this bark, Obey?
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:22 pmWhy does Obey hate The Motherland?
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:23 pmIt sounds like he’s Obeying the will of the people?
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:25 pmLet’s get the other Rep’s to fall in line behind Obey.
War is a racket (Smedley Butler,) take the profit out of warmaking and peace will break out.
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:25 pmARealAmerican
As we are all reminded every April, that tax didn’t go away after the war was over.
Actually it did. And then it was re-introduced in the 1890s, then dropped again, then once again re-introduced in 1913.
The more you know.
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:28 pmWell, if they want to legalize pot, I’d pay whatever tax they want to levy on it without a complaint.
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:30 pmBush:’I need the money”$$$
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:31 pmN.Pelosi:” We will Obey”…..
…that tax didn’t go away after the war was over.
Comment by ARealAmerican
It’s your war that won’t go away, Dope.
∞
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:32 pm“It is just another way for the tax-and-spend liberals to keep feeding the entitlement machine.”
Comment by ARealAmerican — October 2, 2007 @ 12:26 pm
Um…OK. Care to explain how “borrow and spend” is preferable to “tax and spend”? And why paying $408 BILLION dollars in INTEREST on the national debt in 2006 (third biggest expenditure in our budget) is a good idea?
Oh, and just for your information, we liberals don’t see the war in Iraq (the topic of this thread) as something we are “entitled” to. This “entitlement machine” belongs to the neocon hawks.
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:32 pm“It’s called the INCOME TAX, first passed back in 1863 to pay for the Civil War. As we are all reminded every April, that tax didn’t go away after the war was over.”
Comment by ARealAmerican
That’s because they went and found another war….. and have been, ever since.
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:32 pmThe robber barons and the military, and now the corporations and the military, have always managed to find or create another conflict to steal resources and kill off disadvantaged populations.
ARealAmercian should gladly pay a tax to fund to fight the scurge of our lifetime. It’s been the runaway republicans that runaway from the responsibility to pay for Bushs’ conflict. It’s the runaway republicans that wouldn’t face the facts that this will be a long struggle within Iraq and possibly other places.
It’s time to put it all on the table and own up to what this president has done with the complicit consent of the runaway republicans.
Vote for Fred Thompson? That would be great if he were nominated. He might even find it worthy to show up to the convention.
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:34 pmWhy does a fake American love China?
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:35 pmWhat happen Rep Obey? Did you wake up this morning and see the front page of the Washington Post? Did you suddenly realize that the vast majority of this country wants you to do what you threaten?
But wait for…I hear the GOP noise machine revving up…
“You want the terrorists to win! You don’t support the troops! You want to raise taxes and destroy the economy!”
Time to back down, give Bush every last dime he wants and leave for my kids to pay off. Its only the ‘phony soldiers’ that will complain about dying. Nice try though. It sounded good for a few moments there, a sense of courage and willingness to take on an imperial president.
But can not risk being called names by the GOP noise machine.
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:36 pmARealAmerican
You can split hair on this all you want. But the fact is, once it was passed, it was that much easier to keep in existance
I’m not splitting any hairs. You said, and I quote “that tax didn’t go away after the war was over.” I then showed that it did go away. It then came back, but that doesn’t change the fact that it went away.
We should be cutting more taxes, not finding excuses to raise more.
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:39 pmAnd get another 180 Billion for the war from where? Remember when being a Republican meant fiscal conservatism?
Obey said the same crap back in April and then turned around and told Botox Nancy to pull the no war with Iran provision from the bill because he had received a call from Tel Aviv.
He is just another Joe (Lieberman that is)
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:46 pmBorrow and spend is preferred by supporters of the war because they are happy to have a war as long as it doesn’t affect them. Let the grandchildren worry about it.
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:47 pmTax is bad…but when you keep handling checks for never ending war projects…so this money has to come from somewhere. Governments don’t make money , they spend it. And when government spends money it looks for revenues..and that’s taxing. For people who want to continue having wars,they have to understand when a tank or helicopter is destroyed,someone has to pay for a new one. When soldiers in the hundreds of thousands file for disability, when they come home and young,thaey have to be taken care of for a long time.
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:48 pmWe cannot continue with this war mentality and not be prepared to pay for cost of wars.
You cannot continue doing it by raising the ‘debt ceiling’…this will lead to a great depression if we continue to do that,becaue one day we might not be able to import anything because nobody wants our currency if we continue to spend and raise the debt ceiling.
If you spend $3,000.00 a month and you bring in only $2000.00,
at one point something is going to affect your survivability.
Either you increase your revenue,or cut on your spending…
it is a simple as that.
But Bush cannot continue to keep asking for more billions of dollars when we are living deeply in debt .
Several years late, but a first step towards sanity.
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:49 pmOf course he’s trying to create a new tax… we have to pay for this war somehow don’t we? How do you propose we pay for it, if not by taxation?
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:49 pmI am so tired of hearing this cutting of taxes mantra from the brainwashed supporters of the right. Don’t you remember, Bush cut the taxes. Most Americans probably got enough cash out of that refund to buy gas for three months.
Make no mistake, when Republicans campaign about cutting taxes, watch your wallet. They only want to cut taxes for their rich contributors (and in the process, cut funding for oversight programs that keep their businesses from harming us). Everyone else gets a few scraps which get swallowed up in higher expenses for everything else.
Democratic candidates have real tax-cutting programs that’ll help the middle class. But I’m sure we won’t see the righties supporting that.
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:50 pmARealAmerican
Where to find $180 Billion? We can start by cutting spending on the over-blown federal budget. That is what fiscal conservatism is all about. Fred Thompson will right that ship. Vote Fred!
Now try for a realistic plan. At best you’ll get a reduction in growth, not any actual cuts. Remember, even under supposed ‘fiscally conservative’ gov’ts all thats changed is the pace the gov’t has grown at, and which sections grow quicker (military or civil), not if it’s grown or shrunk.
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:50 pmneither will this one. It is just another way for the tax-and-spend liberals to keep feeding the entitlement machine. Vote Fred Thompson!
Comment by ARealAmerican — October 2, 2007 @ 12:26 pm
Reagan and the two bush’s have accumulated 3/4 of the national debt since the founding of the nation. You hypocrites crack me up, with your reckless spending, and trying the pass the buck to future generations instead of paying for it yourself. Bunch of cheap cowards, and mismanaging fools run the GOP values camp.
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:52 pmBotox Nancy! That is freakin hilarious! She is the worst Speaker in the history of the House. Dumber than a box of rocks. After Bush, I didn’t think anyone could sound that stupid until Pelosi took over as speaker.
Comment by ARealAmerican — October 2, 2007 @ 12:49 pm
You accusing others of being dumb, while claiming that tax cuts boost the economy! Ah the irony!
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:53 pmFred Thompson will right that ship. Vote Fred!
Comment by ARealAmerican — October 2, 2007 @ 12:44 pm
The only people who will vote for Fred Thompson have daddy issues. The dude is even lazier then Bush. At least Bush puts in an 8 hour day, when he isn’t on vacation. Fred left government, because he didn’t want to work that hard.
So get over your daddy, and start thinking.
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:54 pmBut but but Wolfowitz said the oil would pay for this unmanageable quagmire that Cheney said wasn’t worth it.
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:58 pmI absolutely support a war tax. Let’s see if the Republicans who support this debacle really think it’s the struggle for civilization. If that were true, you’d do anything to fund it and support it, wouldn’t you? Aside from going shopping, that is.
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:59 pmARealAmerican
If you remember back a few years ago, after Bush’s tax cuts were in full effect, the governments income actually outpaced the budget.
I do remeber, its called the Laufer curve, or something like that. But it is a curve, you can’t go to far to either side.
Of course, spending on the Iraq war has since gone out of control. What to do? Cut spending in other places.
October 2nd, 2007 at 1:00 pmOr cut spending in the war. Stop giving no-bid contracts, stop paying military contractors like blackwater 3x or more what our service people make.
Tax cuts coupled with spending cuts work. It is proven. Of course, spending on the Iraq war has since gone out of control. What to do? Cut spending in other places.
Comment by ARealAmerican — October 2, 2007 @ 12:56 pm
Brilliant. We should dedicate more and more of the GNP to war. Forget about bridges falling down, forget about restoring the Gulf or keeping our children healthy. If we close all the schools, it won’t matter if they get sick.
Let’s just spend every damn penny on war and make sure the upper class gets another well-deserved tax break.
October 2nd, 2007 at 1:01 pmIf you remember back a few years ago, after Bush’s tax cuts were in full effect, the governments income actually outpaced the budget. We were operating in the black, even with the ridiculous amount of pork the Congress was putting out. Tax cuts coupled with spending cuts work. It is proven. Of course, spending on the Iraq war has since gone out of control. What to do? Cut spending in other places.
Comment by ARealAmerican — October 2, 2007 @ 12:56 pm
Apparently you dont remember back a few years ago. The tax cuts are backloaded, tax cuts did not create jobs, it is not proven, it was a Republican congress that was in hogg heaven, the spending on Iraq has been off the books IE emergency appropiations, the deficit has exploded under the non-fiscal Republicans [bridges to nowhere, the debt limit was just raised, the housing sub-prine bubble burst under the Bush admin, and China is our biggest creditor, while government ahs grown not shrank, during this time.
And I have even listed the corruption and sex scandals under the value voter administration.
Nice Dismal Try MR P.
October 2nd, 2007 at 1:04 pm*I have not even listed the…
October 2nd, 2007 at 1:05 pmBush’s tax CUTS are the only thing keeping the economy afloat right now
Bwahaha. You mean the federal bailout with tax dollars?
October 2nd, 2007 at 1:06 pmIf you remember back a few years ago, after Bush’s tax cuts were in full effect, the governments income actually outpaced the budget. We were operating in the black, even with the ridiculous amount of pork the Congress was putting out. Tax cuts coupled with spending cuts work. It is proven. Of course, spending on the Iraq war has since gone out of control. What to do? Cut spending in other places. Comment by ARealAmerican — October 2, 2007 @ 12:56 pm
Oh please, the bush tax cuts are largely why it took the economy so long to recover. Only the normal gdp growth itself has slowly raised the tax revenues, all the while Bush is spending unwisely like a sailor on leave!
October 2nd, 2007 at 1:13 pmComment by ARealAmerican — October 2, 2007 @ 12:56 pm
You don’t want to pay for the war. You don’t want to fight in the war. What exactly do you do to support this war that you think is so vital to the defense of America besides mouth the president’s talking points? What kind of sacrifices do you personally make in support of the effort?
October 2nd, 2007 at 1:13 pmThe bush ‘recovery’ has the worst economic and job record since the great depression. Even Jimmy Carter’s economy grew significantly more! Nice to see ARealAmerican thinks so highly of the Carter economy!
October 2nd, 2007 at 1:15 pmThis is why I don’t mind some trolls. Asurealamerican got so many educated responses and I learn more.
keep defending the runaway republicans ARA. Any relation to IRI?
October 2nd, 2007 at 1:17 pmBush’s tax CUTS are the only thing keeping the economy afloat right now. We should be cutting more taxes, not finding excuses to raise more.
Comment by ARealAmerican — October 2, 2007 @ 12:36 pm
You call this economy afloat? The dollar is dropping, foreclosures are up, mortgage instability is spiking markets around the world, and we’re continuing to borrow money to finance a war that’s completely pointless. How are Bush’s tax cuts helping with this in any way?
Remember - the Titanic didn’t sink for at least an hour after it hit the iceberg. That doesn’t mean that the holes in its hull were keeping it afloat.
October 2nd, 2007 at 1:22 pmA-RealMeriKKKanTROLL: have you served, “sir”?
October 2nd, 2007 at 1:24 pmBut but but Wolfowitz said the oil would pay for this unmanageable quagmire that Cheney said wasn’t worth it.
Comment by Xisithrus — October 2, 2007 @ 12:58 pm
—–
Xis wins, thread over.
October 2nd, 2007 at 1:25 pmOf course, spending on the Iraq war has since gone out of control. What to do? Cut spending in other places.
Comment by ARealAmerican — October 2, 2007 @ 12:56 pm
OK — this should be a fun exercise for you. Where would you cut, and how much? We need $200 billion a year to fund the war in Iraq — more if we invade Iran as well — so keep that in mind.
Here are some tools for you to work with:
http://www.federalbudget.com/
You’ll notice the biggest chunks of the budget go to interest on the national debt (you can’t touch that), Social Security (you really can’t touch that, either), the Department of Defense (this is where you are trying to ADD money), and the Department of Health and Human Services. You’ll probably try to whack away at the HHS budget to finance the Iraq occupation, so here’s their budget:
http://www.hhs.gov/ budget/ 08budget/ 2008BudgetInBrief.pdf
Remember, you need to find $200 BILLION in wasteful spending to cut. Good luck!
Oh, and try not to create any expensive problems with your cuts — if you cut off too much funding to people, you wind up with a homelessness problem. Cut off Medicare and Medicaid and you wind up with a bunch of sicker people that will need to be taken care of some other way. Make too many people destitute and the economy will take a nosedive. You get the idea.
October 2nd, 2007 at 1:31 pmNice Dismal Try MR P.
Comment by Xisithrus — October 2, 2007 @ 1:04 pm
Mr. P thinks it was the “Bush tax cuts” that caused the spiralling deficit to level out a few years ago. It actually leveled out in the late 1990s, as a result of CLINTON reversing the REAGAN tax cuts. Reagan gave tax cuts to the rich during his administration, and it was during his administration that the national debt skyrocketed to unprecedented levels. Clinton came in, eliminated the Reagan cuts, and revenue actually started matching spending. Dubya came in, gave tax cuts to the rich again, and the debt is now growing faster than it even did during Reagan and Daddy Bush.
And the wingnuts STILL think this is the way to go. Unbelievable.
October 2nd, 2007 at 1:44 pmThe current federal debt as of this post: $9,012,918,879,384.63
Do you have any idea on how much the monthly interest is on this?
Comment by criticalthinker — October 2, 2007 @ 1:56 pm
Damn. I knew we should’ve switched to the Discover card. We could pay the entire Pentagon budget with one cashback bonus…
October 2nd, 2007 at 1:58 pmLet Bush put the cost of the War in the Budget. Supplemental Funding is ridiculous for a war that has gone on for over four years.
Go Obey…what took you so long??
October 2nd, 2007 at 6:04 pmWow one of our elected officials is finally growing a new spine! Keep up the good work, Obey! FOLLOW THROUGH. Bush treats all threats as idle threats, so the follow-through is the most important part. I like the idea of the tax because making conservatives pick between the joy they experience killing people and their precious precious money will piss them off!
October 3rd, 2007 at 3:42 pm