After hearing that Dave Obey (D-WI) is postponing consideration of the $190 billion War Supplemental which will be stalled in committee till early '08, I was thrilled to see that he, McGovern(D-MA) and Murtha(D-PA) are also working on a tax supplemental to force taxing the American people to pay for the war instead of passing these obscene and immoral costs onto our kids and grandkids.
One reason this is such a perfect time for this strategy is that Bush is vetoing S-CHIP today (not a very politically popular move, even with most Republicans, but holding the line on spending is his rationale and he hopes will provide political cover for denying kids healthcare).
This new-found fiscal restraint is so much BS it funny but will become very plain is total PR crap when he either:
- Veto's the War Tax because he's against taxes
- Will knock that straw man argument about fiscal restraint to the wind.
How will they posture they are about denying kids health insurance because they don't want to run up the deficit at the same time they are running up the deficit 10 times as fast with this un-funded war supplement?
They can't and there will be no "fiscal restraint" cover to hide behind
once this is how the war is funded.
Even if he veto's the war tax bill he will be forced to eat the turd on fiscal irresponsibility so it's a winner for us in exposing his policies as hypocritical and totally political.
Obey says:
Noting that "we need to stop pretending that this war doesn’t cost anything," Obey also announced that Murtha, McGovern and he will be introducing a bill to create a war surtax to pay for operations in Iraq instead of passing those costs on to future generations as the President has requested.
"I’m tired of seeing that only military families are asked to sacrifice in this war; and they are asked to sacrifice again, and again, and again, so we are putting together this bill in the hope that people will stop ignoring what this war is costing American taxpayers and call the President's bluff on fiscal responsibility," Obey said. "The President is threatening to veto our efforts to provide one-tenth the amount of money that he is spending in Iraq for investments in education, health, medical research, science, law enforcement, and other areas that are crucial to creating a stronger country and more prosperous families. If the President is really serious about combating deficit spending then we’d be happy to help him avoid shoving the costs of the war in Iraq on to our kids by providing for a war surtax."
"If this war is important enough to fight, then it’s important enough to pay for," Obey concluded.