A Call to Obey……Can Help End the War: Action!

skymutt has an excellent diary up on Representative David Obey, chairman of the Appropriations Committee. Amondgst other things, he discusses the tax aspect of Obey’s recent statements….and that is what the media is covering.

Is Obey the key to ending the Iraq Occupation? If his statements are any indication it is indeed a possibility. He is the first person in  our government to take the next STRATEGIC step in ending the war….or at least changing the conversation. By indicating he will not just give Bush a blank check, this at the very least, changes the balance of power.

Obey is indicating that he will…as is within his power, defund the war. This bold statement is well worth our support. Especially when that support….support to take the next step in the ending the occupation will take about…..five whole minutes of your time.

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Crossposted at Orange.

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Is defunding the absolute silver bullet perfect solution to ending the occupation? Perhaps not. Is there another solution besides, as Rahm and Pelosi have recently said…. waiting for a Dem President?

That means nothing at all will change for over a year from now….and that is just to start the process.

Yes there are, theoretically, ways Bush can get around defunding. But strategically defunding changes everything. In two very important ways.

It makes Bush have to be proactive….he has to take action to thwart the will of Congress and of the American people to end his war. If he wants to find the money someplace else….let him. And let him explain WHY he is going outside of standard government procedure to APPROPRIATE (steal) $200 Billion of taxpayers money.

It makes the Republicans have to introduce a bill to fund the war. So instead of Democrats buying responsibility for the war, the Republicans have to take ALL the responsibility….and blame….for continuing this horrible nightmare.

From Obey’s statement:

The President is asking Congress to appropriate an additional supplemental request of almost 200 billion dollars, a blank check to finance US activities in Iraq, and he clearly expects that request to be repeated for years to come. I would be more than willing to report out a supplemental meeting the President’s request if that request were made in support of a change in policy that would do three things:

  First– establish as a goal the end of US involvement in combat operations by January of 2009;

  Second– ensure that troops would have adequate home time between deployments as outlined in the Murtha and Webb Amendments;

  Third– as part of a determination to engage in an intensive broad scale diplomatic offensive, involving other countries in that region.

  But this policy does not do that.  It simply borrows almost 200 billion dollars to give to the Departments of Defense, State, Energy, and Justice– with no change in sight.  As Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, I have absolutely no intention of reporting out of committee anytime this session any such request that simply serves to continue the status quo.

People have objections to defunding…and like any policy or strategy, it is not perfect. But what is the alternative at this point?

Doing Nothing…..except giving Bush more blood money.

So go ahead in the comments, make your objections. But before you do, give Obey’s office a call and tell them you support the plan. If for no other reason than it DOES change the status quo. If for no other reason than we are OUT of other options. We all want to end the war, right?

Here is an opportunity to do SOMETHING towards that ending. So even if you have objections to defunding….

Please call Obey.

Please e-mail or fax or call Speaker Pelosi and tell her office you support Obey.

At this point, when Pelosi has given up, what do we have to lose? Congress has NO other solutions. This is quite possibly our last chance to do SOMETHING …..besides wait…..while people die…..to end the war. We all want to end the war, but we are all discouraged. Here is a lone bright spot of hope…so once again I urge you to….

RIDE KOSSAKS RIDE …and not give up until WE have done everything WE can do to End The War

David Obey
Washington, DC Office (202) 225-3365

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Toll Free Contact Congress!  1-800-828-0498

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Office of the Speaker
202-225-0100
FAX 202-225-8259
E-mail

I want to say this one last time.

Without this step, without at least INVOKING the Power of the Purse……..ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ELSE can change the conversation, can change the balance of power. By lending our support to this proposal and helping it grow, we are taking what may truly be our last chance to End the War in Congress.

Without shaking things up with defunding, there is literally, nothing else left that we can do.