The Democratic Party is in a quandary about what to do with a problem like the war. Most Americans want it to end, and end as quickly as possible. President George W. Bush seems determined to drag it on for two more years so that his successor has to deal with the problem and be blamed for "losing Iraq."
Democrats asked Bush to set a schedule for drawing down the war or at last not escalate it. He has been unmoved by any request and has proposed an escalation in troops and expenditures.
Many persons; in the government and out, in the military and out, in the media and out, politicians and nonpols, and ordinary everyday Americans suggest that Democrats can force the issue by merely cutting off funds for the war. But simply cutting off funds could backfire when the political right accuses Democrats of "losing the war" to terrorists ~ as it will ~ just as Democrats who ended funding the Vietnam War were blamed for the ignominious ending of a war that Richard Nixon lost and Gerald Ford cut and ran from.
But there are some actions that Democrats can use to begin the process of ending the war and they simply require following the United States Constitution.
The Constitution says in Article I, Section 8, paragraph 1, that:
"The Congress shall have the Power to lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts, and Excises, to ... provide for the common Defence ... of the United States."
That's it. It says all military spending is to be done with tax receipts of all sorts; it does not provide that spending on this "war" be done with borrowed money or with credit of any kind. The power to borrow money by government wasn't introduced until paragraph 2, well after the Constitution firmly established military spending be done with tax money and only with the four forms of tax money the Constitution specifically names. And since Bush has done all war spending off budget, Congress cannot now allow him to siphon funds from borrowed money to pay for his folly; it must be done separately from all other government spending.
Congress merely has to agree to his money requests, but it must also adamantly adhere to the Constitutional requirement to use only tax money to pay for this Bush absurdity. And since all previous spending on the war was done with illegally borrowed money, Congress must require taxes to repay the Treasury for all the money Bush and the l08-109th GOP Congress borrowed since 2003 for their war crime.
Fund the war, but in the funding bill include specific taxes to be used to pay the tab. Target those who have been feeding on the federal teat since Bush pushed through his tax cuts that benefitted mainly the top one percent of US taxpayers. A tax surcharge on the bloated salaries of those who proposed and created the war ~ including Bush himself ~ should be included. Extend this surcharge to the multimillion-dollar "golden parachutes" ineffectual, hands-off, can't-do executives receive to get the hell out of the corporations they damaged. Ordinary Americans who are sacrificing their sons and daughters to this madness have contributed enough and should not be asked for more.
If funding the war properly is not acceptable to Bush and his right-wing supporters, let him veto funding of the troops. Let warmongering buffoons in Congress and in the media argue against funding the troops; let them be responsible, and let the people of America know precisely why Bush and his toadies refuse to fund the troops. Force them to obey the Constitution or get out of Iraq and let them shoulder the blame for this mess.
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Thomas Bonsell is a former newspaper editor (in Oregon, New York and Colorado) United States Air Force cryptanalyst and National Security Agency intelligence agent. He became one of American journalism's leading constitutional experts through years of study at Georgetown University Graduate School of Government in Washington, D.C., and tries (without much success) to be patient with people who argue endlessly on subjects they have never studied. He is the author of "The Un-Americans: Trashing of the United States Constitution in the American Press", a critique of the mainstream media for ignorance of, or disdain for, our constitutional principles of self-government. He left newspaper work years ago, disgusted at the direction the Fourth Estate ~ under the mismanagement of ineffectual, out-of-touch, can't-do executives ~ was taking away from honest responsible journalism and the observation that there was no place in the mainstream media for a progressive, or liberal, constitutional "expert". Bonsell is an honors graduate of Woodbury College (Los Angeles, California) with a bachelor of business administration degree. He is profiled in Marquis Who's Who in America. (Self-portrait, above, was handled to make author/artist appear prettier than he actually is.)
Personal motto: Have brain; will use.
Mr. Bonsell..A realist with a functioning brain. A brave man indeed, one with morals & integrity also. How rare that is these days. Too bad such a large majority of our Congress has none of these qualities..Our administration has proved it also has not so much as a nodding aquaintance with anything that comes under the heading of morality, honesty, integrity. After looking at a list of U.S. 'interventions' thru 2002..
I can't help but wonder if the American People really understand how we have been used, abused and had the wool pulled over our eyes (aka brainwashed) from the beginning by the deceitful greed of the global wealthy powerful elite. It seems the millions of people everywhere are considered nothing more than an expendable work force to attain their goals. I think it is time to remove our heads from the sand before it is too late. That time, I fear, is closer than we realize.
by
Rae (0 articles, 1 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 218 comments)
on Sunday, January 14, 2007 at 3:13:08 PM
The Democratic Party is in a quandary about what to do with a problem like the war.
The author of this piece wrote the above sentence to explain the legal options the 110th Congress has for ending the Iraq War.
I disagree with the author's premise that the Dems lack the smarts or the legal means to end the war.
With over 2/3s of the electorate stating opposition to the war one can no longer say a large of segment of Democrats support it.
Nevertheless, a very large segment of the Democratic Party rank and file, while opposed to the war are also opposed to an unconditional withdrawal.
These people believe that unacceptable consequences will flow from a precipitous American withdrawal and so are seeking a phased withdrawal.
Such a strategy may sound easy to implement, but it is complex. A large part of the problem is that an independent majoritarian Iraq will inevitably a Shi'ite Iraq and a pro-Iranian anti-American Iraq.
In the face of the President's claims to the contrary such a country will not harbor terrorists, will not send crazed killers to bomb westerners and will not deprive us of oil.
Although, many people will point to Iranian support of Hezbollah and Hamas as proof of their terrorist intent and reason for us to fight them, I submit that the Iranians are not supporters of the mass terrorism and suicide bombing that the global war on terror is trying to combat.
A post Occupation Iraq will continue to send us oil because they need the money. They will probably continue the bloody and destructive civil war now in progress and if we do not get our supporters out of the country, they will no doubt be executed as collaborators.
There is also danger of a Saudi financed intervention by Jihadists to protect the Sunnis and danger of Turkish intervention in Kurdistan.
The Democrats in Congress are trying to figure out the extent of these problems and devise strategies for dealing with them.
The Democrats in Congress are trying to figure these things out while simultaneously building a budget to run the government, articulate a domestic agenda for our future and hold off the determined and persistent attacks of the President and the GOP war mongers.
I think it is best to offer the Dems moral support, political backing and most of all to have some patience and give them some time. They have only been in office for ten days.
Robert Chapman
Lansing, NY
by
Robert Chapman (28 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 556 comments)
on Sunday, January 14, 2007 at 6:37:04 PM
2 comments
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