Posted on 11/05/2007 5:50:45 PM PST by NormsRevenge
If violence is decreasing in Iraq, it may be because insurgents “are running out of people to kill,” House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.) said Monday.
“There are fewer targets of opportunity,” Obey said in a speech to the National Press Club.
Obey was responding to a question about reports touted by Republicans that security is improving in Iraq and that President Bush’s “surge” strategy is working. He stressed that military success has not led to political reconciliation.
“The issue has never been military,” Obey said. “The issue has always been political improvement.”
As the House’s top appropriator, Obey has his hands on the nation’s purse strings, giving him a significant say on the war in Iraq.
In his speech Monday, he stuck by his pledge not to approve any more money for the war until President Bush changes course on Iraq. He also offered a spirited defense of a new surtax to pay for the Iraq war, admitting that he knew it wouldn’t pass when he offered his support for the plan. But he said it highlighted the fact that Bush has loaded the cost of the war onto the national debt while pushing tax cuts tilted to the wealthy.
The surtax plan, which is backed by Reps. John Murtha (D-Pa.) and James McGovern (D-Mass.), would raise $150 billion a year for the war.
“That may not be a popular thing to do, but it’s a hell of a lot more responsible than sending the bill to your kids,” Obey said.
Obey is the point man among House Democrats on the looming spending battle with Bush, which Obey called a “manufactured controversy” and an “unnecessary diversion.” President Bush has threatened to veto any bills that exceed his requested spending levels, which together are $22 billion less than what Democrats have proposed.
He also accused President Bush, his allies and his aides of hypocrisy and an unwillingness to negotiate that is immature.
He said that when Democrats were in the majority, they worked with Republicans “like adults” to get spending bills passed.
“I believed that the way politics is supposed to work is that we are supposed to first define our differences and then work like adults to find ways to resolve them,” Obey said.
But this year, he said, Republicans have engaged in “filibuster by amendment,” trying to delay the process and then complaining when Democrats maneuvered to get bills passed by combining them.
“I find it interesting that [Bush] now raises objections, because we are doing what his party did for so long,” Obey said.
Obey and his fellow Democrats combined the bill for labor, education and social spending — which is disliked by Bush — with the military construction spending bill, which includes the budget for veterans’ affairs and is popular with Bush. But Republicans have said the maneuver could stall veterans’ funding.
“That claim is enough to give hypocrisy a bad name,” Obey said, noting that last year, Republicans failed to pass any stand-alone domestic spending bills, including for military construction.
White House budget office spokesman Sean Kevelighan said the difference is that previous GOP Congresses abided by President Bush’s “top-line” overall spending cap.
“We’re in a different environment in this Congress,” Kevelighan said. “Unfortunately, what we’re finding with this Congress is that the reaction to everything is to raise taxes or spending more taxpayer dollars.”
“With time running out this year and not a single bill complete, Democratic leaders may want to start focusing on the work that must be done now instead of blaming everyone but themselves for their pork-filled, shoddy work,” said Brian Kennedy, spokesman for House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio).
And brush fires are caused by global warming, not arsonists. The Democrats have it all figured out. They should be running the country, eh?
Wow...is this on film?
“There are fewer targets of opportunity,” Obey said in a speech to the National Press Club.
—
Next November , in the voting booths across America, there will be no shortage of “targets of opportunity”.
Here’s hoping the voters of Wisconsin and elsewhere will do us all a favor and send this and other morons packing.
WTF?!? As opposed to what good name for hypocrisy?
Ditto!
Until the Mall Of America comes crashing down from Sudden Jihad Syndrome.
Its no wonder that no spending bill has been passed with idiots like this in charge.
yes, it is...
2008 commericals could be a hoot if we save these greatest hits.
The Democrats have it all figured out. They should be running the country, eh?
— Oh , they are..
Into the dustbins of history if they have their way.
A Democrat saying something totally outrageous only improves their resume. They have pandered to the fringe for so long it has become natural, proving natural selection.
Has there been a mass migration of Iraqis and Afghanis that we don’t know about?
What an incredibly stupid thing to say.
Thanks!
another Thanks!
The Democrats are grasping at straws. Up to now, they have insisted that what creates terrorism in Iraq is the very presence of Americans. Now that the violence is declining while the Americans haven't gone anywhere, that position becomes less tenable.
Yeah...There’s only 5 Billion infidelss left! They are getting si hard to find.
That is one of the most pathetic lies I’ve ever heard.
Just when you think you’ve heard it all from The Radical Left, they surprise you.
Not in “the dustbins of history”. In the “cesspools of history” along with all the other crap.
Obey, another Democrat nut coming out of the Leftist Closet.
This man has always been on the far-left but his stupidity has allowed America to see what he really is - Dennis Kucinich’s evil twin.
Ahhhhhh!
It never ceases to amaze me just how stunningly ignorant are most of our elected officials.
It never ceases to amaze me just how stunningly ignorant the voters are. Remember these men and women were not appointed to these positions. Some jackass...in fact a lot of jackasses had to pull the lever to put them in office. If that is not a sobering thought, I don't know what is.
David Obey is an amazingly stupid man, but he’s outdone himself this time.
Speechless.
Obey is stunningly STUPID! And, you just can’t fix STUPID.
Idiot ping
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