We Can Stop Iraq Funding - Here's How
By David Swanson
Created May 10 2008 - 10:13am
Take 1 Minute to End the Killing:
Congress Members have received thousands of phone calls, and some of them
are committing to voting no on Iraq funding. The vote won't happen until
next week, so keep the calls coming: Call your Congress Member now at
202-224-3121 and tell them to vote No on the war funding.
More Detail:
Pelosi does not have the votes to pass the Rule, a procedural vote that
must
pass prior to votes on each of the three amendments (1. war money, 2. a
nonbinding "timeline goal," re-banning of torture and permanent bases,
redundantly banning a Bush-Maliki treaty without consent of Senate or both
houses of Congress, and forcing Iraqis to pay for the reconstruction, 3.
other spending including military spending and veterans spending).
She doesn't have the votes because of Republican opposition to the whole
maneuver (which will involve amending a bill that's already passed in
order
to avoid a vote on the whole package - except for the Rule vote), and
because of "blue dog" (right-wing) Democratic outrage over spending some
$11
billion on something useful when they want to stay focused on wasting over
$100 billion on killing. Democrats who do plan to vote No on the war
funding
have not threatened to vote No on the Rule. But they should if they want
to
block this thing.
If Pelosi buys off the blue dogs somehow, progressives could still step in
and block the war money by blocking the Rule. There may be some
progressive
resistance to the Rule anyway, because Lee and Kucinich both want to be
permitted to bring up amendments. (Lee's would resrict funding to a
withdrawal. Kucinich's would ban the use of funds for attacking Iran,
Syria,
etc.)
So, call your Congress Member now at 202-224-3121 and tell them to vote No
on the war funding and on any Rule that would bring it up for a vote! And
tell them to make their position clear to the Speaker. Tell them that you
will REMEMBER IN NOVEMBER. Make clear to them that voting for either of
the
other two amendments will be no excuse for voting for the war funding
amendment. You can remind them (92 of them) of this letter [1] in which
they
committed to voting No.
--
NOTICE: This post contains copyrighted material the use of which has not
always been authorized by the copyright owner. I am making such material
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political, human rights, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues.
I
believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright
Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107
"A little patience and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their
spells dissolve, and the people recovering their true sight, restore their
government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are
suffering deeply in spirit,
and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public
debt. But if the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have
patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an op****tunity of winning
back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are
at
stake."
-Thomas Jefferson
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