The Supplemental spending bill proposed by Speaker Nancy Pelosi funds the war. It gives Cheney and Bush roughly another $100 billion. And you can be quite sure they will spend it as they choose, which may include attacking Iran. In fact, a measure in the bill requiring Bush to get Congress’s approval before attacking Iran (an attack that would violate the US Constitution and the UN charter) has been removed.
The bill also requires Iraq to turn much of its oil profits over to foreign corporations. This illegally rewards the Bush and Cheney gang for their illegal war.
Beyond that, the bill does a number of things to nudge Bush in the direction of limiting the war, but most of them are for show.
This bill pretends to ban torture. Torture was always illegal. The framers of our Constitution sought to leave such practices behind in England. The US is a party to international treaties banning all torture. Nonetheless, the last Congress, the Republican Congress, banned torture, and Bush used a signing statement to announce his intention to ignore the ban. Now Pelosi wants credit for pretending to ban torture again. You cannot ban torture under a dictator who has publicly announced that he will ignore your bans. You can only end torture by ending the pretense that there is not a dictator living in the Vice President’s house.
The bill also intends to pretend to limit how many days a soldier or Marine can be kept in Iraq. The Republican Congress did this in 2003, and Bush threw it out with a signing statement.
Ua hoʻohana kekahi mau pelekikena mua i nā ʻōlelo kākau inoa, akā ʻaʻole lākou e hoʻolaha i ko lākou manaʻo e hōʻole i ke kānāwai. A i nā manawa he nui, me nā mea ʻelua aʻu i ʻōlelo ai, ʻike mākou ua hōʻole ʻo Bush i kēlā mau kānāwai.
And don’t imagine that Nancy Pelosi is unaware of this. She’s a step ahead of you. She’s included in the bill a right for the president to waive the restrictions. So, this time, no signing statement will be needed. Instead we’ll get a waiver. I’m sure that’ll make the soldier on his or her third tour of Iraq feel better when they’re told that they’re going to stay a little longer this time. In polls last year our troops in Iraq said they wanted to all come home last year.
What else does the Pelosi bill do? Well, it requires Bush to report periodically that progress is being made, and then at sometime next year, depending on what Bush claims, it requires at least some troops to move to Afghanistan. Congressman Obey says that’s where the war should be. The bill says nothing about bringing anyone home, and nothing about leaving no permanent bases in Iraq. In fact, it includes so many loopholes – for protecting bases, protecting other troops, training Iraqis – that most US troops will be able to stay in Iraq forever.
ʻAʻole like kēlā me ka bila kūʻē kaua. ʻOi aku ka ʻino. ʻO nā mea ʻelua e hoʻopilikia ai i koʻu manaʻo e pili ana i ka pila, ʻo ia ke ʻano o ka mālama ʻana i ka pelekikena a me ke ʻano o kona hoʻolei ʻana i nā pōmaikaʻi pili ʻole i mea e kipe ai i nā lālā ʻaha kūkā e kākoʻo iā ia. Ua noi ka bila iā Bush e hōʻike i ka holomua ma Iraq. Ua nīnau kekahi mea kākau moʻolelo iā Pelosi inā he ʻano hana e hoʻoholo ai inā haʻi ʻo Bush i ka ʻoiaʻiʻo. Ua pane ʻo Pelosi ua maopopo ʻo ia.
Aia hou kēlā hoʻopunipuni, ʻo nā mea āpau-he-maʻamau-ʻaʻole hiki ke hana-ma ʻaneʻi.
Hoʻokomo pū ʻia ka pila i nā ʻano hana he nui i hiki ke kamaʻilio maʻalahi i nā bila ʻē aʻe, ʻo ka nui o ia mau mea kūpono a lōʻihi hoʻi, me ke kōkua ʻana i nā poʻe kahiko, nā poʻe Katrina, nā mahiʻai. Ua ʻike ʻia ka hewa i loko o ka hoʻopaʻa ʻana i ka bila kaua ma kēia ʻano i ka wā i ʻuā ai ʻo Congressman Obey i ka makuahine pūʻali koa ʻo Tina Richards e pono ʻo ia e kākoʻo i kēia bila a i ʻole e kūʻē ʻo ia i ka mālama olakino no nā poʻe kahiko. I ka ʻaha kūkā hope loa, hōʻole ʻo Obey i ke kākoʻo ʻana i kahi bila e hāʻawi i ka mālama olakino i nā poʻe kahiko.
Barbara Lee’s amendment takes a different approach, one that does not involve micromanaging the war or funding it. The amendment would restrict spending to withdrawing troops. We have a list of which members are saying they will vote No on the supplemental unless it has Lee’s amendment:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/19669
These are our heroes. These are the only members of Congress who are genuinely acting in support of our troops.
If Pelosi’s bill passes and survives in a recognizable form following a conference committee, Bush has promised to veto it. But there’s a decent chance he’ll “signing statement” it instead. He wants the money, and he knows Pelosi won’t fight for the toothless restrictions in the bill if he deletes them with a signing statement. To do so, she would have to call him a criminal.
Instead, she’s already saying that if her bill does not pass, she’ll have to support one the Republicans like, one with no limitations at all. But it is not true that she’ll have to do that. She can support a bill like Lynn Woolsey’s or Dennis Kucinich’s or Jerrold Nadler’s or Jim McGovern’s and pressure conservative Democrats to join the rest of her caucus.
She will be compelled to do so by public opinion if the Progressive Caucus stands strong.
Voting for her war bill would only encourage her to come back with a worse one once it fails. And if Lee’s amendment gets a vote and progressives vote for it, that will not be seen as any excuse for then turning around and voting to fund the war.
The groups that have not recognized any excuses for voting for this war bill include United for Peace and Justice, Progressive Democrats of America, US Labor Against the War, After Downing Street, Democrats.com, Peace Action, Code Pink, Democracy Rising, True Majority, Gold Star Families for Peace, Military Families Speak Out, Backbone Campaign, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Voters for Peace, and disgruntled former members of MoveOn.
The public is already seeing through the charade. The Pelosi bill will be remembered as the pro-war vote, the vote in which the Democrats bought and became owners of the war, unless the Progressive Caucus stops it. Those who stop it will be our heroes and will have earned the power to lead the way toward a better bill. We are going to remember who votes No, who votes Yes, who votes Present, and who does not vote. This one is going to be carved in stone for posterity. This is the vote you get elected in order to make.
Hāʻawi kālā ʻia ʻo ZNetwork ma o ka lokomaikaʻi o kāna poʻe heluhelu.
E Makana mai