Happy Holidays . . . Bush holds jobs of 100,000 civilian military workers hostage for Iraq money

[bigtree]

White House warns of Xmas military furlough notice

Merry Christmas from Washington: With Congress balking at continued war funding, the White House says the Defense Department will issue furlough notices to about 100,000 civilian workers at military bases in mid-December.

The threat of notices is the White House’s way of reminding Congress that it must authorize continued funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The House has voted to tie $50 billion in continued funding to a timeline for troop withdrawals, but that measure has been shelved in the Senate. The White House is calling on Congress to approve a spending bill before year’s end. If funding isn’t provided, the Defense Department says, the stall will have a “profoundly’’ burdensome impact on its operations.

“Before you furlough anyone, you have to provide notice,’’ White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said this morning. “If Congress provides the full funding, then the Department of Defense will not have to take the step’’ of furlough notices. They will have to be issued in mid-December, she said.

Perino also acknowledges that this was a warning shot across the bow of Congress – “that’s exactly what that was.’’

“It is not us who is making any civilians suffer,’’ she said. “We are calling on Congress.’’

http://weblogs.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/blog/2007/11/white_house_warns_of_xmas_mili.html



2 Key House Democrats Call on President to Accept Withdrawal Deadline

WASHINGTON — In their latest tussle with the White House on the Iraq war, two leading House Democrats said Tuesday the Pentagon was using scare tactics to try to goad Congress into passing another war spending bill.

And Reps. David Obey and John Murtha said they won't bite. Obey, D-Wis., chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, and Murtha, D-Pa., head of the panel's Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, said they won't support more money for the war this year unless President Bush accepts a timetable for troop withdrawals.

Obey and Murtha convened the rare recess-week news conference to counter Pentagon reports that the military will have to take drastic steps next month if it doesn't get the money soon.

Obey and Murtha said they calculate the military has enough money to continue operations through March by eating into its $471 billion annual budget.

Murtha said the Pentagon was issuing "irresponsible" propaganda.

"They're scaring people," he said. "They're scaring the families of the troops . . . That's the thing that's so despicable."

When asked whether public opinion could eventually turn against Democrats if they hold out too long, Murtha said no because the Pentagon has destroyed credibility.

"Go back and look: mission accomplished, al-Qaida connection, weapons of mass destruction," he said. "On and on and on and you'll believe the Pentagon?"

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,312328,00.html

[DS1]

1. “It is not us who is making any civilians suffer,’’

I wonder if she really can't see the irony in that.

[OnceUponTimeOnTheNet]

2. k&r.

[tsuki]

3. Terraist George strikes again. Just a thought. Since the civilian

workers are in the budget, and Eric Prince and his Pinochet Mercs are not, let's give Eric Prince his walking papers.

[bigtree]

4. that's a good thought

why pick on the workers?

[flordehinojos]

5. it seems that these words taken from

Psalm 28 Verses 3-5 in the, Quest Study Bible, could apply directly as a prayer to anyone caught in George's Hostage for War situation:

DO NOT DRAG ME AWAY WITH THE WICKED,

WITH THOSE WHO DO EVIL,

WHO SPEAK CORDIALLY WITH THEIR NEIGHBORS

BUT HARBOR MALICE IN THEIR HEARTS.



REPAY THEM FOR THEIR DEEDS AND THEIR EVIL WORK.

REPAY THEM FOR WHAT THEIR HANDS HAVE DONE

AND BRING BACK UPON THEM WHAT THEY DESERVE.



SINCE THEY SHOW NO REGARD FOR THE WORKS OF THE LORD

AND WHAT HIS HANDS HAVE DONE,

HE WILL TEAR THEM DOWN

AND NEVER BUILD THEM UP AGAIN.

or, in other words, Lord, please keep me out of George's butchery and give him his dues.

[MiniMe]

6. Blackmail - call it what it is

[bigtree]

10. that too

[Hangingon]

7. Are these the same people we usually denigrate as

mercenaries?

[bigtree]

9. more like mechanics, clerical workers, medical . . .

civilians.

[suffragette]

15. These are often the spouses of military personnel,

the wives and husbands of soldiers who hire on and provide support services on the bases, such as PX staffing, etc. They need that money as a family to make ends meet.
Completely different from the mercenaries with their expensive contracts.

[bigtree]

8. Perino and Helen spar over the furloughs (priceless)

PERINO: We are calling on Congress and the Democrats in Congress to send the President supplemental war funding without arbitrary surrender dates and without micromanaging the war before they leave for their next vacation, which is going to be around the Christmas holidays. They only have about six legislative working days left, so they have a lot of work to do when they get back into town.

Q (Helen) Are you saying that these furloughs would begin before they come back from this vacation?

PERINO: The notices. I'm not sure of the date. I know that they have to notice because under the rules you have to give people, I think it is 60 to 90 days worth of notice that they could be furloughed. So that could happen.

Q So this is a way to remind Congress that you want them to pass this bill?

PERINO: That's exactly what that was.

Q So you're making them suffer --

PERINO: I'm making the Democrats suffer?

Q No, you're making the civilians who work for the Defense --

PERINO: Oh, no, it is not us who are making any civilians suffer.

Q There ought to be --

PERINO: We are calling on Congress to --

Q How many billions have we spent already for the Defense Department?

PERINO: The Defense Department says that they need this funding in order to keep the war running, as well as to keep these civilians -

Q Maybe they don't want the war to keep running.

PERINO: Well, I think that that has been --

Q The country doesn't want it --

PERINO: I think that Americans have seen what our troops have been able to do this year, in trying -- is starting to turn things around in Iraq. We've got a long way to go, but they have started to make some significant gains, and to pull the rug out from under them now seems to be -- seems irresponsible.

Q To keep killing you mean . . .



http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/11/20071120-1.html

[nightrider767]

11. Let Them Furlough

Part of the war draw-downs are furloughs.

What's the problem?

Do it.

[bigtree]

12. well

the folks who will be at the end of those cuts are mostly career workers here at home, they're not the deployed ones who we want home. The arrogance of it is that Bush has the power to pick and choose where these cuts will come from. And, it's not like they don't already have enough money to go to the moon and back several times. Where's all of the money we just gave him?

[nightrider767]

13. Bigtree..

I've seen a number of your posts lately and you've been spot on. Nicely done.

Anyways in this case I do advocate not even hesitating. If we want to wrap the war up, I say we have to cut funding. What Bush does is his prerogative. Stop war funding now.

Given the opportunity Bush would happily spend his days gouging out kittens eyes with Bic pens for fun. The scum-bag. I'm convinced he has no conscience.

Happy Thanksgiving man....

[spanone]

14. and blame it on the democrats, of course.