Congressmen Call for War Surtax

Three Democratic congressmen have announced plans to draft legislation that would impose a war surtax to pay for operations in Iraq as a way to demonstrate their opposition to the war.

Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, held a press conference with Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, and Rep. James McGovern, D-Mass., vice chairman of the Rules Committee. They said they would not take up President Bush's request for nearly $200 billion in war supplemental funding, calling it a "dead end policy," and said that the cost of the war should not be borne by future generations.

The congressmen objected to Bush's threats to veto their proposals for spending on education, health, medical research, science and law enforcement. "If the president is really serious about combating deficit spending, then we'd be happy to help him avoid shoving the costs of the war in Iraq on to our kids by providing for a war surtax," said Obey in a statement.

The tax plan would add 2 percent to the tax bill to low- and middle-income taxpayers, and 12 to 15 percent to high-income taxpayers. However, the proposal stands little chance of passage. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., rejected the idea, as did Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., the House's Republican whip.

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