Pelosi keeps door open on war tax to finance the war in Afghanistan

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Pelosi keeps door open on war tax



http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/11/24/pelosi-keeps-door-open-on-war-tax/#more-79206

Posted: November 24th, 2009 07:52 PM ET

From CNN Congressional Producer Deirdre Walsh

Washington (CNN) - Speaker Nancy Pelosi kept the door open Tuesday to a proposal by several senior House Democrats to impose a graduated surtax on American taxpayers to finance the war in Afghanistan.

While Pelosi wasn't pressed about the details of the new war tax, she pointed to strong reservations among Congressional Democrats about the costs of the war during a conference call Tuesday with several economic writers and bloggers.

"But let me say that there is serious unrest in our Caucus about can we afford this war?" Pelosi said.

Two years ago when House Appropriations Chairman David Obey, D-Wisconsin, floated a similar war tax to pay for the war in Iraq, Pelosi quickly rejected it. But on Tuesday Pelosi said the costs of the war and the impact they will have on other domestic priorities should be part of the discussion over U.S. strategy in Afghanistan.

[gateley]

1. Is there a real chance Congress won't approve this?

And if so, what would happen then?

[Amerigo Vespucci]

4. The money's got to come from somewhere

So your guess is as good as mine.

:patriot:

[anonymous171]

2. There should be a 90% income tax on high income earners during times of war.

The rich need to pay their share.

[glinda]

3. No. They need to help pay for health care since they are many times polluters.

[Thothmes]

7. Disagree

Think the tax should apply to everyone. Graduated of course based on income. Vast majority of Americans are quite content to allow the war to continue because they have no stake in it. There is only two ways I can see that would get their attention. Tax, every payday, a line item on their pay stub "war tax" fine print under that line item, "to end day war ends". The second was would be to draft their sons and daughters to fight the war. Taking their money or their children to continue fighting the war, would, IMO, raise the level of discontent for that adventure to a very high level in this country.

[BR_Parkway]

9. It would be sweet to set up a separate Dept of Defense tax - their only

budget would come from that. Then we'd have a lot more folks questioning just how much we spend and why.

[Overseas]

11. I like that idea.

But there's a very large covert budget. We might need to have a lot more transparency in our "defense" spending. People might want to know what foreign governments are being deliberately destabilized in our name and why. Can't have that now, can we?

The American people just aren't smart enough to do that, are they? We've defunded public schooling to achieve that goal and been fairly successful in making ignorance hip or spiritually upright. So now we can turn around and declare that the public just wouldn't understand the complexities that make a bankrupting military policy imperative.

A public that sees the military chunk of their taxes clearly defined might even want the Defense Department to prove that the shoddy work and criminal practices of private contractors hired to provide military services we used to do in-house are really more efficient and economical. Can't have that now, can we? Privatization is supposed to work better. Can't look at the facts. Dogma rules.

[Thothmes]

12. Not a bad idea.

[MadHound]

13. Speak for yourself

I've been on the front lines fighting both of these wars from the beginning, and frankly forcing me to pay a tax to support this war is simply wrong. Rather, let us have no tax, and instead starve this beast.

Sorry, but your logic simply fails.

[Thothmes]

15. The idea is to get enough people upset and down right mad

about having to pay a specific tax for these wars. Maybe wishfull thinking on my part, but right now the vast majority of the American population is quite willing to go about their daily lives without making effort to speak out against the travesty in Afghanistan. Think drafting their sons and daughters would go a long way in waking them up. JMO.

[Sebastian Doyle]

5. Tax the oil companies and the "defense" contractors.

It's their goddamn war. Not ours.

[DonkeyHoTay]

8. Especially the contractors! Haliburton tops the list...

Any other of your favorite contractors you would like to name for special taxation?

[dixiegrrrrl]

6. kicking...this a topic we need to keep an eye on.

Amazing...impeachment is off the table, affordable health care ( not mandatory insurance, mind you, but health CARE) is off the table, war criminals are being paid to appear in public, Obama re-appoints the head thief of our money, but taxes ? Oh, we can do taxes.

[invictus]

10. K&R

[Owl]

14. Damn straight there should be a war tax.

I'd even like to see a breakout of everything military itemized as a portion of our federal tax witholdings on our paychecks.

[Owl]

16. Kick.

[Stinky The Clown]

17. I'd favor this. There is no War Fairy to pay for this debacle.

I'd also favor a draft. Because that will end this insanity right now.

[HughMoran]

18. NO! The tax should only be on those ingrates that support war/the wars

I ain't paying for that shit - tax only Republican "patriots".

[Swamp Rat]

19. DRAFT RICH KIDS