Appears to be the newest new thing the Democrats will try and fail (someone, probably Joe Lieberman, will call them troop haters and they will fold):
Three senior House Democrats are proposing a new tax to pay for the Iraq war, as well as vowing to oppose any funding bill for Iraq that does not include a policy for ending the conflict.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.), Rep. Jack Murtha (D-Pa.), chairman of the Defense subcommittee on House Appropriations, and Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), will soon unveil a “surtax” on taxes owed by Americans to help cover the cost of the war, the trio announced this morning.
The tax is designed to raise $140 billion to $150 billion annually, and would range from a 2% surtax on low-income Americans to as much as 15% for wealthy taxpayers.
Obey and Murtha also said that they would not move an Iraq supplemental funding bill, needed to pay for combat operations in 2008, unless a “goal” of having all U.S. combat troops out of the country by January 2009, troop deployment times are shortened, and President Bush demonstrates that will engage in “an intensive, broad scale diplomatic offensive involving other countries in the region.”
I never met a tax I liked, but I do like the fact that I will get to watch the Patriots (and I don’t mean Tom Brady and Randy Moss) in the right blogosphere go BALLISTIC over this proposal. I mean, come on- when they spent the last five years telling you, me, and everybody that this is the greatest struggle of our lifetime and we have to win or Muslim radicals are going to force us to wear burkhas, they didn’t mean it was so fucking serious we had to have a tax increase.
Let’s have some god damned perspective, Democrats. Sure- the war is super important, but when we said sacrifice we meant defacing your car with a patriotic bumper sticker. Not raising taxes. Jesus. It isn’t THAT important.
*** Update ***
As to why the war has not paid for itself, as Wolfowitz claimed it would, the editorial position here at Balloon Juice is that it is Scott Beauchamp’s fault.
*** Update #2 ***
All told, the Democratic proposal for an “Iraq tax” lasted about four hours. That’s roughly the amount of time from when House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.) gave life to the idea with his endorsement to when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) strangled it.
“Just as I have opposed the war from the outset, I am opposed to a draft and I am opposed to a war surtax,” Pelosi said in a statement issued this afternoon.
We’ll file this under “why I am not afraid of a Democratic majority.” They don’t even need the Republicans as an opposition party. They have themselves.
*** Update #3 ***
Red State delivers teh GOODS:
These guys continue to bypass reality. Hey Obey? If we’re all dead and the country is run by Radical Muslims, will your grocery list of handouts matter? Will there even BE any children to make pay for the war we’re fighting to keep them safe and secure?
Of course not. We are going to abort them all.
RSA
Raising taxes will mean that we are less able to aid the war effort by going shopping.
Davebo
I anxiously await McQ’s retort.
Rex
Awesome post.
Andrew
The Laffer Curve says that increasing taxes reduces revenue and increases terrorism.
Ugh
Awesome. Of course the retort will be just what the comments above say it will be. Maybe the WSJ editorial page will break out their laughable graph again.
Zifnab
This just proves that if the Democrats take office, they’ll be off to the races taxing and spending with your money. Why tax when you can just put it on your credit card? Don’t liberals understand how the concept of free money works?
Cyrus
It’s not that I like taxes, it’s just that I prefer them to deficit spending. I’m not crazy enough to try to pay down the national debt in one year, but let’s stop doubling it, at least. The military is probably the biggest single part of the budget, so cuts anywhere else are just nibbling around the edges of spending (and you just KNOW not to expect cuts to the budget of the military any time soon…) So it would be very hard to balance the budget by cutting spending, which means raising taxes at some point. Either an uncomfortable amount today, or three metric assloads when China calls in its debt.
Here’s another prediction of what the right-wing response will be: raising taxes hasn’t been needed so far to pay for the war, has it? So this is unnecessary, and just an underhanded stunt by the Democrats to try to make the war unpopular.
Whoa there bucko, don’t get hasty, no one said it was important enough to deface your car. Why do you think they’re using so many magnets?
John S.
But Republicans are so much better at math and figures than Democrats are!
I mean, Giuliani has his math skills down – check out teh awesome graph!
(Disclaimer: Graph is not based on any actual data set – real or imaginary.)
Stooleo
I can already hear the knashing of the teeth, renting of the clothing and pulling of the hair.
Money quote
“These guys continue to bypass reality. Hey Obey? If we’re all dead and the country is run by Radical Muslims, will your grocery list of handouts matter? Will there even BE any children to make pay for the war we’re fighting to keep them safe and secure?”
http://www.redstate.com/stories/liberals/democrats_do_blackmail_again
Thats right kids, There going to invade and takeover our country. Be afraid, be very afraid.
John S.
Way to not force the Republicans into an uncomfortable position while simultaneously making Democrats look like fiscal conservatives. Great fucking job, Nancy Pelosi.
Seriously, her and Reid have got to be the two most inept majority leaders in recent history.
chopper
of course! let’s spend, spend, spend, for tomorrow we all may die! (not really, but it’s fun to pretend so).
our kids can’t win. either they’re destroyed by the ‘muslim hordes’, or they’re rendered broke by economic insolvency. what a choice!
or maybe, just maybe, all this is a false dilemma and all this stuff about the ‘muslim hordes’ invading and destroying america is just a bunch of hooey. no, that can’t be it.
whippoorwill
Welcome to the Democratic Party, John. They have provided all sorts of entertainment over the decades, but their crowning achievement is the invention of the circular firing squad. Others have used it, but dems have perfected it to a stiring public spectacle. Most call it stupid, others call it democracy in action. No one says it’s dull.
Bubblegum Tate
So wait, I’m confused, does this mean Nancy Pelosi still hates The Troops/America/Jebus/Bush?
Wait! I’ve got it! It’s actually far more sinister than we could’ve imagined: Nancy Pelosi is starving the beast! OMG!11!twelve! Nancy Pelosi is in ur govt tking with Grover Norquist!
Jake
So, will the residents of Freeperville, RedState blow out their tires doing a 180 to condemn Pelosi or will their heads explode because she’s done something with which they agree?
Oh wait. I’m forgetting Option C: Ignore it and continue bashing Obey etc for even DARING to suggest blah, baaa, mooo.
Never mind.
Fledermaus
Personally I kind of hoped that they would choose a gas tax to pay for it. And as Atrios noted, why is it that when any program or project the Washington courtiers all sry out “how will you pay for it” but, somehow, this never comes up when the project involves dropping bombs on brown people
AkaDad
I’ve heard the Democrats are going to hold a press conference, and apologize for being so mean to the Republicans…
chopper
could be pelosi and her ilk are thinking that taxes need to be raised to pay for the war, but refuse to be the ones to seriously propose it. it’s the gop’s war, why should the dems give the gop an out?
dunno tho. first, that would assume that pelosi etc actually have a plan. second, it would assume that the gop can’t just wait it out and dump the whole situation on the next president and walk away happy.
pacified
what a bed-wetting coward pelosi is. disgusting. She does realize this game is called “politics” right?
Zifnab
Words…. barely…. express…. rage.
*** I LIKE PIE (-ed) **** How did you get elected to the god-damn dogcatcher’s office? This would serve a dozen different purposes. It would be electoral poison for the Republican party, especially if you tied it to a war funding bill. In fact, this is EXACTLY the sort of legislation you should have pushed for back in May, when Bush was asking for $90 billion handouts.
And this war isn’t going to pay for itself, no matter what Wolfwitz wants you to believe. Busting out the big guns now, and pushing to pass a tax increase under a Republican President means you’ve just given that Overton Window a good kick towards responsible government while the onus of the war is still on the Republicans’ shoulders.
And you want to get that window moving, because Republicans love that “tax and spend” shtick. If you start talking about raising taxes in ’09, you’ll pay for it in ’10 and ’12. And that debt isn’t getting any smaller, either. The sooner we get this war paid down, the easier it will be for everyone in the long run.
But, unless Pelosi totally missed the bus, she should know that this isn’t ’03, and it’s far too late to oppose war taxes when we’re already half a trillion into the mix. What? You’re just going to not pay off that credit card, Nancy? Yeah, I’m sure our creditors in China and Taiwan will be really happy to hear that. Just tell them you didn’t support the war so you’re not going to support paying the bill.
Stupid, stupid, stupid girl.
Chris Andersen
Your assuming that Pelosi’s word is law on this matter.
I sense two possibilities, (1) the Democratic Caucus is getting just as pissed off at her leadership as the base and this is the first public thumbing their nose at her, or (2) she tacitly gave the go ahead to leak this idea to see how it would play while making it look like she had nothing to do about it in order to plausibly disown it.
Unfortunately, the latter idea would make more sense if she hadn’t been so quick to shoot it down. Which is why I suspect that this is Obey and friends attempt to embarrass her publicly.
Again, just because she says no does not mean it won’t happen. It all depends on what leverage she could use against Obey and how will he is to defy the leadership on this.
Jay B.
Shit, the Democrats should have proposed a $41,300 per person war tax on registered Republicans then force a vote on a draft only for 18 – 33 year olds whose parents make more than $100K a year.
But no. In perfectly typical fashion they can’t even do politics right. Christ, I wish my party still had old Catholic ward bosses running it. They’d stick it to the GOP in total and the Republicans would be weeping tears of blood all the while.
Fucking Pelosi.
Incertus (Brian)
When I read about it earlier today, the word was that even Obey knew it was a non-starter, that it wasn’t actually going to happen. It was always a symbolic move. So why jump Pelosi’s shit over that?
SPIIDERWEB™
Incertus,
We jump Pelosi (figuratively only) because she is also being symbolic and should have kept her mouth shut on the issue.
Can someone tell me anything Pelosi has done right? She’s a DINO as much as is Lieberman.
Can you imagine a gunfighter telling opponents he won’t load his gun? Well, Pelosi did that by taking impeachment off the table. And that was just for starters.
Dave_Violence
With all this extra taxing, it’ll be easy to give every newborn $5k.
AkaDad
Every Congressional district that voted for Bush should be surtaxed…
Jay B.
OT: But this “independent and has nothing to do with Blackwater site” is the best thing since Tom DeLay went with comments:
http://blackblawg.blogspot.com/
Tim F.
If republicans oppose taxes, how exactly DO they plan to pay for the war?
Pooh
HAWHAW
jake
Seppuku on the the Capitol steps!
Oh Tim, the Republicans will accept a tax to pay for the war once a Democrat is in the White House. It’ll be a two-fer: 1. President Democrat Lost the War in Iraq.
2. President Democrat Raised Taxes to Pay for His/Her Failed War.
Victory!
vetiver
These guys continue to bypass reality. Hey Obey? If we’re all dead and the country is run by Radical Muslims, will your grocery list of handouts matter? Will there even BE any children to make pay for the war we’re fighting to keep them safe and secure?
Speaking of bypassing reality — HOW THE FUCKING HELL COULD IT POSSIBLY COME TO PASS THAT THE U.S. IS RUN BY “RADICAL MUSLIMS”?
They invade us? Okay — using whose ships/planes/intermolecular transport devices? They threaten us? With what? IEDs in slingshots? What else do they have?
Really, what kind of Islamoblitzkreig are these Red State guys expecting?
Pooh
Silly Tim, the free market will allow for the capitalization of the candy and flowers with which delighted Iraqis (and soon, Iranians!!!!one!1!!1!!!!1!) continue to shower our troops and/or contractors.
whippoorwill
We’ll just have buy a hell of a lot more Chinese junk. Either that or learn to make gold out cow shit.
Tsulagi
Yeah, similar brilliance was written by the same RS front pager yesterday when ranting about a Biden amendment. An amendment co-sponsored by God’s candidate, Sam Brownback.
But that OIF-forever steely front pager was chastened in the comment section by a fellow front pager, a disciple of God’s candidate, who said Biden had a point. Plus God’s RS point man said he was “eminently skeptical of the notion that democracy in Iraq is either workable or desirable.”
Without flinching, Steely started dancing…
Yep, but let’s not raise those kind of questions during Petraeus’ PowerPoint show or in other hearings. That our strategy is to hope it gets better and our tactics are Stay the Course 2.0. Nope, instead look out for your country by being wounded by an ad and how much it cost.
Then Steely McRedState shared known truth in an orgasmic “Not Our Fault!” release…
See, the problem has not been the MOST MOMUMENTALLY RETARDED AND INCOMPETENT civilian leadership use of our military in our history nor their constant, unquestioning cheerleading of it along. Not at all. The problem has been NOT ENOUGH cheerleading for stupidity during this grand nation building drive.
And now they’re giggly they can cheer once again; Petraeus has brought them success. The full force and might of all the US military ground forces we can bring to bear are now being used to hold around three quarters of one large sized city on the planet, and bits and pieces around there. Like our Commander Guy, they see the big picture. No price is too great for that level of success.
What lame dick, retarded assholes.
Xenos
While the first is obviously unconstitutional, you might actually find a way to focus a draft on the upper middle class. They used to have hardship waivers, so why not just set that waiver really high, like parental income of less than $100,000 per year?
Wilfred
How come nobody around here raised an eyebrow or made snarky comments when Bush and the Democrats gave Israel 30 billion of American taxpayer money to buy yet more fucking weapons lest the Palestinians take over their country? How come that’s not so funny, not so ridiculous?
I think there’s plenty of lame dick, retarded assholes to go around, no?
Gus
What everyone seems to forget is that Pelosi is worth fucking $90 million. Of course she doesn’t want any new taxes. I’m starting to warm up to Ralph Nader. Or at least I would if he wasn’t such an egotistical shit.
Fledermaus
I’ll top that – how about a special tax on cheetos, all hostess products and all war-related DVDs. Then we’ll hear the bastards howl.
Fledermaus
Silly moonbat – with tax cuts of course. And pony rides for Halliburton and KBR. Ya yotta have the pony rides.
incontrolados
$190,000,000,000.00
I’d give some congress type one year’s worth of my salary if s/he could figure out how to actually pay that one bill.
Is it time to do a 1994 Mexican devaluation thing on defense spending? Everyone might be happier if it only cost $190,000,000.00 for a year of war.
incontrolados
Where’s the “it’s all about the votes on the floor” or whatever apologist?
craigie
remind me to vote Green.
or just not vote.
Zifnab
Seriously, what do you do when your own party seems hell bent on reaming its own ass. I want a third god-damn party. Does no one on this god-forsaken earth who runs for office today want this war to end?
Geoduck
Pedantic aside: magnets can damage your car as well. Metallic grit will collect around the edges and scratch up the paint.
TenguPhule
First, by repealing that pesky amendment against Slavery.
Then all the black and brown people will be rounded up and sold to China to make more cheap goods for home.
Solve the Deficit, Make Imports Cheaper, Get rid of all those durned foreigners and Pay for the War!
It’s like the Fourpointed Wet dream of the Republican Party.
merlallen
they don’t want to pay for their war or fight in it. I don’t think they believe one word about what they say about the Islamo Fascist Menace, do you?
chopper
most goopers want the war to continue. but they have no good idea of how to pay for it without 1) raising taxes, which would kill them in the polls, or 2) huge cuts in social programs (which they would love to do but would never get away with either) and would absolutely love it if the dems raise taxes to pay for it. it’d take the political heat off them to shit or get off the pot if the dems come in and take a shit for them. plus they get an issue to club the dems with in the next election. it’s a win-win for them.
the problem with this high-stakes bluffing is that our economy isn’t a fsking plaything. tax increases should have been on the table from the beginning, but the gop refused and the dems were too spineless to even suggest it.
Redleg
Hell, I would be happy if they were to fund the Iraq war through the regular operating budget instead of through a supplemental budget that needs to be approved every time Bush needs more fucking money to throw down the pit. To add insult to injury, when the Dems want to question the supplemental, Bush and his worshippers attack Dems for being anti-soldier.
If the war is so damned important, stop playing games with the budget and do it right. That includes targeted tax increases to fund the operations (and a damned close look into whether the contractors such as KBR, Blackwater, and the rest are billing us correctly and providing the agreed-to services).
rawshark
What chance do we have as a country when there are people like this running around? How do you talk to someone like this? Radical muslims will take over this country? How in Gods name would that happen? It is simply not possible. How do you have a rational dicussion with someone who thinks you’re a deranged idiot if you don’t think the country is in mortal danger? If you bring up any facts that are in conflict with what they believe they label you as a liberal democrat traitor and won’t talk to you anymore.
Zifnab
That’s the political game. We all know damn well it would never pass. Bush would veto the bill if it ever managed to break through the Republican filibuster. And Democrats would have one more bullet in the campaign gun when they play the fiscally intelligent card in ’08.
All Clinton / Obama / Edwards has to do is run an ad with a graph.
cleek
which will make their game of Russian Roulette that much more fun.
HyperIon
exactly. last week rudy proposed to eliminate the AMT and replace it by a TAX CUT. many folks heard this and assumed he had misspoken. but NOOOOOOO, he thinks he can eliminate a tax and then “replace” it with a tax cut. pretty clever, no? right up there with perpetual motion machines.
John Williams
I would argue that the “war” tax should be a windfall profit tax on the oil companies with a percentage directed towards the development of energy alternatives. This type of tax would help recover some of the costs of the war, encourage the development alternative energy sources that don’t require a gulf presence, and force those that support the war to pay for it.
Zifnab
While that’s an interesting turn of phrase, it doesn’t deal with the issue at hand. Namely: The US has a giant bill to pay and Republicans don’t seem willing to pay it.
Pelosi and the Dems need to get on this behemoth now, while the President is still squarely to blame. Because if this just sinks into the national debt and drifts out of public consciousness, guess who’s going to be to blame in ’12 and ’16 when this money really starts coming due?
A war surtax makes everyone that much more eager to end the war. A blanket “we’re gonna raise taxes to retire the debt” surtax is just going to make people pissed at the guys in power who raised the taxes to begin with.
Get the ball rolling now. Get it into the public consciousness that taxes are going to have to come up. Spell it out if you have to. Iraq was not free. Half a trillion dollars has to come from somewhere, and that somewhere is your checkbook.
sglover
Evidently my earlier heated gynecological remark about dear Nan was deleted.
But yeah, you’d think that if Nan wasn’t such a timid, unimaginative LOSER, she could think of a get some political advantage from Obey’s manuever. There are lots of signs that “no taxes!” free lunch trough is yielding radically diminishing returns for Republican panderers.
And to hell with the politics of it anyway — it’s the right thing to do. I’m sick to death of flag-waving morons who won’t even put an extra dollar, let alone some skin, towards THEIR war. Pelosi is beneath contempt for not putting their feet to the fire.
Evinfuilt
That makes too much sense. I mean, thats something Al Gore would recommend, and you wouldn’t want to do that would you.
I mean, imagine a war to keep us oiled up, and a tax to keep us from using said oil. It could lead to people looking for alternates, and thats not right.