The Last REAL Democrat in D.C.

The Gentleman on the left is David Obey, Democrat representing the Wisconsin 07.

Take a good long look, folks.

This is what a real Democrat looks like.

Today, I wish I lived in the Wisconsin 07 so I could lay claim to being this man's constituent!

Today, this Congressman is the truest, bluest Democrat in the fold.

Today, Obey took a stand, Nancy and Steney be damned. The Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee announced that until there is a definitive change of course where the unholy clusterfuck of Iraq is concerned, there will be no supplemental spending legislation coming out of committee.

“As chairman of the Appropriations Committee I have absolutely no intention of reporting out of committee anytime in this session of Congress any such request that simply serves to continue the status quo,” Obey told reporters.

He went a step further and advocated a "war tax" to pay the tab, too:

Obey PUTS HOLD
ON BUSH’S $190 Billion WAR SUPPLEMENTAL

Calls for War Surtax so Military Families Don’t Bear Full Burden of Iraq War

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a press conference today with Congressman John Murtha (D-PA), the Chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee and Congressman James McGovern (D-MA), the Vice Chairman of the Rules Committee, Seventh District Congressman Dave Obey (D-WI), the Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said that he will not take up President Bush’s nearly $200 billion war supplemental request this year; calling the policy behind the President’s request “a dead end policy.”

“The policy outlined by the President is being sold to the country as a plan to reduce our troop levels in Iraq, but it is quite the opposite. When you strip away the fog, it’s simply a plan to get us back six months from now to the same place we were six months ago before the surge began. It is not being undertaken because of any new determination to reduce troop levels. It is simply recognizing that we do not have enough troops to sustain the surge level. It’s a confession that the President has not a clue about how to get us out of that civil war and instead plans to punt the problem to his successor – ruining two administrations rather than just one,” Obey said. “As Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, I have no intention of reporting out a $200 billion supplemental that will give the President a blank check for an entire fiscal year and I have no intention of acquiescing in a policy that will result in draining the treasury so dry that it will result in the systematic disinvestment of America’s future.”

Obey added that he would be perfectly willing to consider the President’s supplemental request if that request were made in support of a change in policy that would do three things:

1. Establish as a goal the end of U.S. involvement in combat operations by January of 2009.
2. Ensure that troops would have adequate time at home to rest, retrain and re-equip between deployments.
3. Demonstrate a determination to engage in an intensive, broad scale diplomatic offensive involving other countries in the region.

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.

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A War Tax is a damned good place to start, and I don't care what Speaker Placeholder says. (She is really starting to piss me off with her bullshit, centrist appeasement stance. In fact, she pretty much defines who I have in mind when I bitch that we need better (read REAL) Democrats.)

Hell, throw in the threat of bringing back the draft, too, and we might actually see some fucking progress toward ending George Bush's Vanity War. Progress that even Nancy and Harry wouldn't be able to stop!