This Week Congress Will Vote $95 billion for Endless Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan/Pak

[Orwellian_Ghost]

We cannot afford expanded warfare and expanded health care at the same time.

Who will oppose the $95 billion Supplemental Appropriations which will keep U.S. troops in Iraq indefinitely and expand the senseless war in Afghanistan/Pakistan?

Shouldn't we use those funds instead to provide health care to the 45 million Americans who cannot afford it, either through an immediate Single Payer system like Rep. Conyers' H.R. 676, or a "Public Option" that leads directly to Single Payer?

What do you think?

[TBF]

1. This pie chart tells the tale of what is important to Americans:

[TBF]

14. Adding link since the image doesn't always pop up correctly:

http://www.armscontrolcenter.org/policy/securityspending/articles/fy09_dod_request_global/

(article including chart of U.S. military spending vs. the rest of the world - as you might guess we spend nearly as much per year as the rest of the world combined)

[katandmoon]

2. No shit. Obama says health care reform must pay for itself. War? Not so much.

[KharmaTrain]

3. War Does Pay For Itself...That's Why It Goes On...

Most this money will go into the pockets of defense contractors and mercenaries that are employing thousands of Americans here and in Iraq & Afghanistan. It's the down and dirty side of war none of the corporates would dare expose, but a mess the Obama administration has inherited. The military has outsourced itself into a major vulnerability...while our troops are stuck in these wars they have to rely on them and attempting to just yank the funding or pull the troops will result in a total collapse of the military and the many who joined to serve this country along with their families.

Reform of the military is desperately needed...a major priority is to clear out all the mercenaries and all of cheney's cronies. Make war an expense, not an asset...prosecute those that used these wars for their personal profit and prohibit no-bid and other special contracts that created this situation.

[katandmoon]

5. Reform will never happen on Obama's watch. He inherited a mess but keeps digging the hole deeper.

[OhioChick]

12. Sadly enough, I must agree. n/t

[Orwellian_Ghost]

4. Citizen Whip Count Tool

Please call key members of Congress and ask them to vote against H.R. 2346, the 2009 Supplemental Appropriations Act. It includes funding for the war in Afghanistan and the IMF, as well as the Graham-Lieberman Detainee Photographic Records Protection Act of 2009, which allows the administration to block the release of detainee photos.

Republicans have pledged to vote against the bill because of the IMF funding. We need 39 Democrats to commit to vote "nay" to block its passage.

http://action.firedoglake.com/page/s/Supplemental

[dem629]

6. Gee, if only there were someone around to veto it....

Hmmmm, let's see......

Oh.

:(

[SammyWinstonJack]

7. .

:evilgrin:

[blindpig]

8. Man, where's your sense of priorities?

Ooops, they're right where they belong.

Whose side are we on?

k&r

[Psychic Consortium]

9. The wars will not be endless. nt

[TBF]

17. It's hard to take that statement seriously when Obama requested an additional 4% over

last year's defense spending in his budget, and our military budget in 2008 was nearly as large as all of the other countries in this world combined. These facts show us where his priorities lie. I wish that were not the case, but that's the reality.

[blindpig]

20. Might as well be. n/t

[Triana]

10. Posted this last week. It went largely ignored...it's from Voters for Peace

Asking people to contact their reps. Everyone is all about griping on DU - but when someone posts something asking them to gripe to their reps (the people who REALLY need to hear/see the griping) - it goes ignored. Go figure. Granted, the damned reps are more loyal to the mil-industrial complex than us but they STILL need to hear the din and the screaming...

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1312/t/6850/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=27117

[Orwellian_Ghost]

15. It's hard to believe, but the 2009 Supplemental is actually worse than before

In addition to funding a continued war in Iraq and an escalated war in Afghanistan, the Senate version contains the Lieberman-Graham amendment, which prevents the release of torture photos by amending the Freedom of Information Act. Plus, the Senate version also authorizes $108 billion for U.S.-backed loans to be distributed by the IMF, which threatens to exacerbate the global economic crisis, not diminish it.

The first time around, 51 antiwar House members voted against the war funding. Now, House Republicans are threatening to oppose the bill because of the IMF provision. To get the money for the wars, there is great pressure on those antiwar House members to switch their vote.

Call the Congressional Switchboard today at 202-224-3121.

[PufPuf23]

11. Pentagon Plans Latin America-Wide Intervention Ability for New Military Base in Colombia

Pentagon Plans Latin America-Wide Intervention Ability for New Military Base in Colombia

May 5, 2009


The new facility in Palanquero, Colombia would not be limited to counter-narcotics operations, nor even to operations in the Andean region, according to an Airlift Military Command (AMC) planning document. The U.S. Southern Command aims to establish a base with “air mobility reach on the South American continent” in addition to a capacity for counter-narcotics operations, through the year 2025.

With help from the Transportation Command and AMC, the Southern Command identified Palanquero, from which “nearly half of the continent can be covered by a C-17 without refueling.” If fuel is available at its destination, “a C-17 could cover the entire continent, with the exception of the Cape Horn region,” the AMC planners wrote.

President Obama’s Pentagon budget, submitted May 7, includes $46 million for development of the Palanquero base, and says the Defense Department seeks “an array of access arrangements for contingency operations, logistics, and training in Central/South America.” A U.S. Embassy spokesperson in Bogota told FOR that negotiations were not yet concluded for the base.

The Southern Command is also pursuing access to a site in French Guiana that would permit military aircraft to reach sites in Africa, via the Ascension Islands, according to AMC. SouthCom apparently sought use of facilities in Recife, Brazil for the same purpose, but “the political relationship with Brazil is not conducive to the necessary agreements,” AMC wrote.



http://www.colectivodeabogados.org/spip.php?article1615

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

13. $95bn spent on CYA to show that Dems are "tough on terror".

Pathetic.

[ProgressIn2008]

16. What's an empire without endless war? nt

[MadHound]

18. Let's see here,

The excuse before 2006 was that the Dems didn't have the votes to end the war. The excuse after 2006 was that the Dems didn't have the White House. So what's the excuse now that the Dems have the Congress and the White House? Or is there an excuse? Have the Dems just finally decided to be brazen and openly support two illegal, immoral wars?

And this so called "change" president is going to do what? Veto the bill, do the right thing and end these wars? No, he's going to continue the death and destruction for the foreseeable future. So much for "change".

[Mari333]

19. and he will lose his base.

and he can kiss 2012 goodbye.