I had a bit of inspiration today after watching the national call in program Washington Journal on CSPAN. The topic was Iraq of course and typically Republican callers were arguing that we have to keep sending in more troops and keep spending billions of dollars a month in Iraq in an effort to win there militarily. Additionally, it was reported that Vice President Dick Cheney has made a surprise visit to Iraq today to check on progress. Here are the ideas I have come up with.
1. A Republican War Tax: Since only die hard right wingers still support the President and this war, they and only they should pay for it from this point on. The Republican War tax would be levied monthly on all people who have been registered Republican since 2000 to pay for the cost of their war. (This would also include medical and funeral arrangements). Let’s see if these loud mouth chicken hawks are willing to (gasp!) pay more taxes to fund their folly. I have a feeling that the mere threat of taking money out of their hands would send them running to the peace table.
2. Give Dick Cheney a gun - keep him in Iraq: Clearly the man likes to shoot caged animals and geriatric lawyers. Well play time is over Dick. Give him a gun and make him fight there until “the job is done”. He dodged out of service in Vietnam but here’s his chance to back up his tough talk with tough action. Sit him in a HumVee, give him a beer, hand him a gun and tell him to get comfortable. I'm guessing that he would declare victory in short order and personally lead the retreat out of Iraq.
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2 comments:
Funny piece, MQA. Especially enjoyed the Cheney idea. But I would take this notion in a more serious manner. And I wish the Dem Cong leadershup did too.
Obviously you know where I'm coming from. I've so many objections to this war. But one of the biggest is that it's fiscally irresponsible to wage a 1/2 trillion dollar war in a theater where it turns out we had no legitimate threat against our nation's security.
Republicans disagree. And we saw that with the Bush veto. Ok. Well, why not call them on it. We know how they (and me too) generally feel about tax increases. So I'd say why not send Bush a bill that earmarked tax increases on top-end tax brackets to fund this war as he continues to request. With a large budget deficit, I think the Dems could claim to be acting fiscally responsible and also still doing what it takes to support the troops.
It won't happen. And I do understand the fear that it would be giving the GOP ammunition to say they raised taxes in the 2008 elections. But I'd gain a lot of respect for Dems leadership if they made Bush back his words with actions he doesn't otherwise like.
Interestingly enough, my dad is the typical GOP hawk here. He would be fine if Bush fought this war ad infinitum. So I cornered him with this same scenario a few months ago and he actually chose the tax hike (which he'd otherwise never do) over ending the war. I then gained a certain respect for his position because at least he truly believes in it.
I don't think the same is true of the administration. And so I'd love to see them backed into this corner.
Jeff. Way to come up with a productive idea from my humorus commentary. I like your idea about top end tax increases for further war funding. Kudos for your dad and his consistant positions. Thanks for your valuable input.
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