Here's the email I sent to Jan Schakowsky re: war funding

[Hailtothechimp]

Dear Congresswoman,

I have always been proud to be one of your constituents. Until now. Your about-face on the war supplemental is shocking and disappointing in equal measure.

I understand you are doing this to prop up Speaker Pelosi (and thus ingratiate yourself into the leadersip of the party). I also understand this is a political calculation on your part. You think you can survive politically if you do this. And you may even be right. Perhaps this seems like a win-win proposition to you.

But there are losers involved with this. First off, thousands of troops will be killed or wounded, because they were kept over there unecessarily.

And the Iraqi civilians who haven't been able to get away by now are imperiled too. Those billions you want to give to George Bush will buy bullets, and mortar rounds, and who knows what else which will be used against them. Haven't they suffered enough already?

But I count myself a loser in this, too. I was foolish enough to believe your pledge not to vote any more funding for this war. It was on your website earlier this month. And yet, things have somehow changed. Somehow, now, George Bush will respect your wishes and obey the conditions you want to put on these billions of dollars.

Congressman McDermott knows that Bush will just take the money and issue a signing statement later. How can you not see this coming, too? Denial can be a powerful thing, I suppose.

Congressman Lewis has it exactly right. He stated that he cannot, in good conscience, vote for another dollar, or another dime, to fund this war. I wish your position was as principled as his.

Please know that I can not vote for you after this. Ending the war trumps everything, and giving George Bush more money is not the way to do it.

Thank you for reading this.

[Monkeyman]

1. Maybe you want to talk to her Veterans forum coming up I will let you know when

She comes to them all

[Hailtothechimp]

3. Please do. n/t

[Frances]

2. This is an article that I will send Schakowsky

How it looks from the outside
by kos
Thu Mar 22, 2007 at 06:00:50 PM PDT
With all the hand-wringing over the details of the Iraq supplemental, one of the arguments many are making is that the bill "doesn't go far enough" and that it'll make the Democrats look "weak" for caving the to Blue Dogs and "watering it down".

I'm actually quite proud of the progressive caucus -- it's time House progressives start flexing their muscles a little. And the concessions they've won are important ones. Is the supplemental perfect? Nope. But ultimately, it matters little. Bush will veto it, just like he'd veto a "tougher" bill. The would-be-emperor from the unaccountable administration has no interest in agreeing to even the most mildest of oversight requests.

At the end of the day, this is a message battle. It's a chance for Democrats to show that they are interested in ending the war and getting our troops safely home, while the other side wants to escalate the war and get our troops killed.

To that end, look at the headlines the Supplemental is generating:

US Democrats press deadline for Iraq pullout
Iraq pullout measures moves with war bill
US House opens debate on US withdrawal from Iraq
House Democrats seek votes for Iraq exit timetable
Dems labor for sure majority on pullout
Iraq pullout measure moves ahead
After 3 decades, Congress again tries to end a war
Dems seek votes to order pullout from Iraq



You get the point. Few care about the details. The message being sent is that Democrats want out, Republicans want more Americans to die in Iraq.

That is the clear distinction we need heading into 2008. Voters will then decide which they prefer -- pullout or escalation. And when we win that battle and hold the White House and Congress, this war is history.

So the particular of the bills matter little. Whatever we pass, no matter how weak or strong, will be vetoed and we won't have the votes for an override. The war will go on until we get some sane people in charge of the joint.

So we use this as part of the message war.

If we can't end the war right now (and we can't, thanks to King George), then we lay the foundation that will ultimately accomplish that goal.