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Veteran Expediter
Here are some transcripts of a conversation that rep Obey (d) had with some ‘war activists’. He is very frank about his feelings and I have to say this is why I hope that the republicans are paying attention instead of doing an ALGORE with the lost elections.
Now many of you know that there is supposed to be a vote on appropriations to further fund the war and there are all kinds of things tacked on to the bill. One of them is a deadline to withdraw which is a signal to the enemy.
Grassroots America recorded the exchange.
Tina Richards: Are you going to be voting against the supplemental?
Dave Obey: Absolutely not. I'm the sponsor of the bill.
TR: To continue the war?
Obey: The president wants to continue the war. We're trying to use the supplemental to end the war, but you can't end the war if you're going against the supplemental. It's time these idiot liberals understand that there's a hell of a difference between me funding the troops, and ending the war. I'm not going to deny body armor. I'm not going to deny funding for veterans hospitals and for defense hospitals so you can help people. That's what you do if you vote against that bill.
TR: But there should be enough money already in the regular defense bill without continuing the funding for the war.
Obey: There isn't. There isn't. There isn't. That's not the way it works. The money in the defense bill, it pays for a standing Army. But it doesn't pay for these recurring costs. We're going to add over a billion dollars more to what the president was asking for in that bill so we can deal with exactly some of the problems you're talking about. How the hell do you get money to the hospitals if we don't provide the money?
TR: Well are you going to be in support then of, the, um ...
Obey: I hate the war. I voted against it to start with. I was the first guy in Congress to call for Rumsfeld's resignation. But we don't have the votes to de-fund the war and we shouldn't because that also funding to help guys who are victims of the war.
TR: Well there's an amendment to the supplemental that's being proposed to fully fund the withdrawal of the troops.
Obey: That makes no sense. It doesn't work that way. The language we have in the resolution ends the authority for the war. It makes it illegal to proceed with the war. You don't have to fund something if the war doesn't exist.
TR: Oh, I didn't know that was in the supplemental.
Obey: That's the problem. That's the problem. The liberal groups are jumping around without knowing what the hell is in the bill. You don't have to cut off funds for an activity that no longer is legal. We're shutting it off.
Other ‘war activist’: Congressman, what about the Cooper-Church amendment that helped end the Vietnam War?
Obey: It took us 31 different efforts to get there. I was here for that effort. I know what the hell I'm talking about.
Other ‘war activist’: Didn't that help end the ground war in Vietnam?
Obey: No it didn't. The political pressure on the administration finally is what ended the war. The amendment that finally ended the funding was the Addabbo amendment. I was a sponsor of the amendment.
Other ‘war activist’: But if you pass a resolution, isn't he still the commander in chief, and he can do whatever the hell he wants.
Obey: We don't have the votes to pass it. We couldn't even get the votes to pass a nonbinding resolution one week ago. How the hell do you think we're going to get the votes to cut off the war?
Other ‘war activist’: You stop the funding.
Obey: How if you don't have the votes? It takes 218
Other ‘war activist’: You can filibuster his supplemental request.
Obey: There is no filibuster in the House. (duh!)
Other ‘war activist’: Well in the Senate they could do it
Obey: I'm sorry. I'm the sponsor of the bill that's going to be on the floor, and that bill ends the war. If that isn't good enough for you, you're smoking something illegal.
Other ‘war activist’: No, I'm not, sir. No, I'm not.
Obey: You got your facts screwed up.
TR: When are we going to
Other ‘war activist’: You don't have to fund the war, it's not binding ... how would it affect what he's doing
Obey: We can't get the votes. You see a magic wand in my pocket?
Other ‘war activist’: No.
Obey: How the hell we going to get the votes for it? We ain't got the votes for it. We do have the votes, if you guys quit screwing it up, we do have the votes to end the legal authority for the war. That's the same as de-funding it.
Other ‘war activist’: Without stopping it.
Obey: Yes it would.
Other ‘war activist’: Tell us how we could help.
Obey: I'm not going to debate it.
Other ‘war activist’: Why not, because your facts are wrong?
Other ‘war activist’: Sir, the last question is how can we help?
Obey: Go bug somebody else.
Other ‘war activist’: Is there some way we can talk together?
Obey: Good bye, good bye.
BREAKING NEWS
House Democrats retreated Monday from an attempt to limit
President Bush's authority for taking military action against
Iran as the leadership concentrated on a looming confrontation with the White House over the Iraq war.
Now many of you know that there is supposed to be a vote on appropriations to further fund the war and there are all kinds of things tacked on to the bill. One of them is a deadline to withdraw which is a signal to the enemy.
Grassroots America recorded the exchange.
Tina Richards: Are you going to be voting against the supplemental?
Dave Obey: Absolutely not. I'm the sponsor of the bill.
TR: To continue the war?
Obey: The president wants to continue the war. We're trying to use the supplemental to end the war, but you can't end the war if you're going against the supplemental. It's time these idiot liberals understand that there's a hell of a difference between me funding the troops, and ending the war. I'm not going to deny body armor. I'm not going to deny funding for veterans hospitals and for defense hospitals so you can help people. That's what you do if you vote against that bill.
TR: But there should be enough money already in the regular defense bill without continuing the funding for the war.
Obey: There isn't. There isn't. There isn't. That's not the way it works. The money in the defense bill, it pays for a standing Army. But it doesn't pay for these recurring costs. We're going to add over a billion dollars more to what the president was asking for in that bill so we can deal with exactly some of the problems you're talking about. How the hell do you get money to the hospitals if we don't provide the money?
TR: Well are you going to be in support then of, the, um ...
Obey: I hate the war. I voted against it to start with. I was the first guy in Congress to call for Rumsfeld's resignation. But we don't have the votes to de-fund the war and we shouldn't because that also funding to help guys who are victims of the war.
TR: Well there's an amendment to the supplemental that's being proposed to fully fund the withdrawal of the troops.
Obey: That makes no sense. It doesn't work that way. The language we have in the resolution ends the authority for the war. It makes it illegal to proceed with the war. You don't have to fund something if the war doesn't exist.
TR: Oh, I didn't know that was in the supplemental.
Obey: That's the problem. That's the problem. The liberal groups are jumping around without knowing what the hell is in the bill. You don't have to cut off funds for an activity that no longer is legal. We're shutting it off.
Other ‘war activist’: Congressman, what about the Cooper-Church amendment that helped end the Vietnam War?
Obey: It took us 31 different efforts to get there. I was here for that effort. I know what the hell I'm talking about.
Other ‘war activist’: Didn't that help end the ground war in Vietnam?
Obey: No it didn't. The political pressure on the administration finally is what ended the war. The amendment that finally ended the funding was the Addabbo amendment. I was a sponsor of the amendment.
Other ‘war activist’: But if you pass a resolution, isn't he still the commander in chief, and he can do whatever the hell he wants.
Obey: We don't have the votes to pass it. We couldn't even get the votes to pass a nonbinding resolution one week ago. How the hell do you think we're going to get the votes to cut off the war?
Other ‘war activist’: You stop the funding.
Obey: How if you don't have the votes? It takes 218
Other ‘war activist’: You can filibuster his supplemental request.
Obey: There is no filibuster in the House. (duh!)
Other ‘war activist’: Well in the Senate they could do it
Obey: I'm sorry. I'm the sponsor of the bill that's going to be on the floor, and that bill ends the war. If that isn't good enough for you, you're smoking something illegal.
Other ‘war activist’: No, I'm not, sir. No, I'm not.
Obey: You got your facts screwed up.
TR: When are we going to
Other ‘war activist’: You don't have to fund the war, it's not binding ... how would it affect what he's doing
Obey: We can't get the votes. You see a magic wand in my pocket?
Other ‘war activist’: No.
Obey: How the hell we going to get the votes for it? We ain't got the votes for it. We do have the votes, if you guys quit screwing it up, we do have the votes to end the legal authority for the war. That's the same as de-funding it.
Other ‘war activist’: Without stopping it.
Obey: Yes it would.
Other ‘war activist’: Tell us how we could help.
Obey: I'm not going to debate it.
Other ‘war activist’: Why not, because your facts are wrong?
Other ‘war activist’: Sir, the last question is how can we help?
Obey: Go bug somebody else.
Other ‘war activist’: Is there some way we can talk together?
Obey: Good bye, good bye.
BREAKING NEWS
House Democrats retreated Monday from an attempt to limit
President Bush's authority for taking military action against
Iran as the leadership concentrated on a looming confrontation with the White House over the Iraq war.
