Dems propose war tax to make Iraq more unpopular by Matthew Hay Brown
Senior Democrats, apparently looking to make the war in Iraq still more unpopular, now are proposing a new tax to pay for continuing combat operations.
The plan unveiled today by House Appropriations Committee Chairman David R. Obey, Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman John P. "Jack" Murtha and Rep. Jim McGovern would spread the sacrifice among all taxpayers by tacking a "war surcharge" on top of the federal income tax. Americans would pay up to 15 percent more on their taxes in order to raise the $150 billion needed annually to keep the war going.
"If you don’t like the cost, then shut down the war," Obey said today.
The Democratic leadership, still looking for a way to seize control of the war, has yet to endorse the new tax.
"I agree with the proposition that this generation of Americans ought to help pay for the war that we are carrying on," House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer told reporters. "Whether that means that we need to have a tax increase at this point in time, we haven’t discussed that."
Obey said his committee would not consider President Bush’s $190 billion request for the war until the new year – and signaled that he was now willing to condition future war funding on plans for a U.S. withdrawal. That would be a change for Democrats, who have tried to attach strings to war spending, but have said that they would not try to end the war by cutting off funding for the troops.
Today, Obey told reporters he had "no intention" of approving a funding request "that simply serves to continue the status quo."
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