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Pelosi Can Refuse To Present Bill To Fund Illegal US Iraq Occupation
Sep 22, 2007
What if Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi refused to present a bill on the floor of Congress to fund the criminal U.S. occupation of
Iraq?

The possibility of a Bush veto would not be an issue.

Although there are billions of dollars
still in the pipeline, Bush and the Pentagon, faced with a new political reality, would be forced to begin
making plans for withdrawal.

As Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi has
full control over which pieces of legislation make it onto the floor of House to
be voted on. The Democratic Party majority in Congress could just sit on any war
spending bill and there would be no funds for the war

Funding for war in Iraq could be stopped at
any number of steps in either the House or Senate.

According to the U.S. constitution spending
bills have to originate in the House of Representatives. Congress has control
over executive branch by having decisive control of funds for
war.

Not only does the
Speaker of the House control the legislation put on the floor for a vote, the
Democrats, as the majority party, currently control the chair of all committees
in both houses of congress. The Appropriations Committee could also just not
bring the funding bill out of committee.

As the new majority Speaker of the House,
one of Nancy Pelosi’s first acts was to declare that Impeachment proceedings
against President Bush were ‘off the table’. This meant she would refuse to
allow this burning issue to come to the floor of House. If instead as House
Speaker, Pelosi were to declare that war funding is ‘off the table’, funding for
war would not be possible.

When millions of people voted for
Democratic Party politicians, who claimed to be anti-war last November, this is
exactly the kinds of legislative actions they expected a Democratic, supposedly
anti-war majority in Congress to take.

It is important to confront the direct
fraud that the Democratic majority in Congress is putting forth in their
complicity on voting to fund
the war.

Even
though they control the majority in both houses even since election they have
given endless excuses about how they do not have the votes to do what they
promised to do.

The
Democrats claim that because they do not have a 2/3 majority they are powerless
to over rule Bush's veto on the war funding. So they must pass a bill that Bush
would approve. They could simply refuse to present a bill for ANY war
funding.

They clearly
have the Constitutional authority, the legislative power and political
mandate.

But it will
take a massive determined, angry and independent movement to force the
conciliatory Democratic majority in Congress to put Impeachment on the table and
take war funding off the table.

The Democrats with endless help from the
corporate media have presented a hand wringing theatrical fraud about their lack
of sufficient votes to take any action against the war.

Spending bills originates in House
Appropriations Committee. Dave Obey (D Wisc). Obey could also simple refuse to
move funding for the war out of committee. This is the fate of many hundreds of
bills introduced into Congress each your. Most bills ‘die in
committee’.

The
Appropriations Committee has a Sub-committee on Defense chaired by John Murfa
(D-PA), who says he wants to bring troops home He could do this by refusing to
bring forward funding for the war.

At every stage Congress could act to
stop funding the war.

After a funding bill is approved in the
House of Representatives it moves to the Senate. Senator Robert Byrd, D-VA, head of the Senate
Appropriations committee and so eloquently opposed to war could just refuse to
move the bill thru the Senate Appropriations Committee. Harry Reid, Senate
Majority leader could refuse to bring a bill to the Senate floor. Any of these
measures would also ‘kill’ the multi-billion dollar war funding
bill.

There would be no
need to have a 60% majority to stop a Republican filibuster nor would the
supposed anti-war Democrats need a 2/3 majority to overcome a presidential
veto.

JUSTIFYING
COLLABORATION

To
further justify their collaboration on the war, members of Congress use their
supposed concern for U.S. troops as a human shield. They are hiding behind
soldiers and the threat that if they cut off funds U.S. soldiers would wake up
tomorrow and not have food, water, even have funds to pull
out.

This is also a
fraud. The Pentagon does not live pay check to paycheck like working people
do. The budget and supply process is decided months and years in advance. There
is a long supply chain – planning and allocation are known many months in
advance.

The Pentagon
is using the funds for Iraq war to plan and prepare new wars against Iran. Half
the U.S. navy has moved to within striking range of Iran. More than 10,000 sites
have been targeted by Pentagon planners.

Congress and media know the determination
of corporate America is to stay in Iraq for a generation or
more.

As Congress again
votes before the October 1 deadline to continue the war a political challenge is
being prepared by the Troops Out Now Coalition. The greatest contribution of the
Encampment scheduled to take place directly in front of Congress from Sept 22 to
29 is to show the kind of independent mass action that is needed to really end
the war. Learning through bitter experience about the role of both capitalist
parties is an essential part of the struggle to end the
war.






SEPT 29:

National March on Washington

SEPT
22-29:
Encampment in Front of Congress to STOP the War


New! Updated Logistics Info - Housing, Schedules, and
more!


Get
on the bus! - find an organizing center near
you:
http://troopsoutnow.org/sept2907orgcents.shtml











If
you cannot join us in Washington, you can still help. Please donate whatever you
can to help others join the march. Every single dollar helps to make our voices
stronger. Your donations can help pay for buses, flyers, picket signs, mailings
and all of the necessary costs.  Everyone can be a part of this
effort.

Donate online at:
http://troopsoutnow.org/donate.shtml



A week-long encampment directly in
front of Congress

A giant billboard and
round-the-clock political challenge to Congress to STOP funding the war
.

Actions every day and resistance music and culture every evening. We
are open to many displays and actions. Just contact us with your
ideas.

ACTIONS ALL
WEEK

Every day - music, spoken word, creative
acts of resistance and protest

People from around the country will start
arriving on Saturday, September 22 and Sunday, September 23. The Encampment will
expand to major actions on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, culminating in a
mass march on Saturday, September
29.

Schedule

Saturday, 9/22 &
Sunday 9/23
Help erect scaffolding for a giant billboard
demanding: 'Congress: Stop Funding the War - Fund Peoples' Needs.' Music and
work at the site on tents, canopies, and displays. Crews will be doing outreach
throughout neighborhoods in the DC/Baltimore area with sound cars and leafleting
brigades.

Monday, 9/24 & Tuesday,
9/25
Actions demanding:
- Impeachment of Bush & Cheney
for War Crimes
- Stop War on Iran - action and a strategy meeting on
Emergency Network to focus on the growing threat of a U.S. attack on
Iran

Wednesday, 9/26 - Turn up the
heat!
Actions TBA in the halls and offices of Congress to confront their
political complicity in the war - Funding the war is a war crime.

Thursday,
9/27 - Stop the War at Home Day
Program at 5:30 in the big
tent:

Katrina/Rita
Survivors—
The struggle to rebuild New Orleans
continues
Special showing: “Welcome to New
Orleans” one hour
Documentary on the racist military
occupation of New Orleans
SPEAKERS
INCLUDE:
-
Malik Rahim, Exec. Dir., Common Ground Collective, New
Orleans
-
BrendaStokely, NY Solidarity Coalition for Katrina/Rita
Survivors
-
Teresa Gutierrez, May 1st Immigrant Rights Coalition
Discussion to
follow

Friday,
9/28 - Youth actions challenge military recruiters, war
funding & police repression. 'Money for Education, NOT War.'


Cuba Solidarity and
anti-war activists will present a rainbow solidarity letter with thousands of
signatures to the Acting Attorney General demanding Freedom for the Cuban Five
political prisoners. Videos about the Cuban 5 such as ‘Mission against Terror,’
& ‘Salud’ will be shown non-stop during the
encampment.

Join an Evening Vigil with SiCKO
film cast members at the Lincoln Memorial to remember those who died because
they were denied health care.

Never Again -A concert of hip-hop
and spoken word at the encampment with BAYAN Philippine Alliance to oppose
U.S. military in
the Philippines.

Other actions & meetings TBA.
Set up, banner & sign making all day.

Other actions & meetings
TBA. Set up, banner & sign making, outreach & organizing all
day.

SATURDAY, 9/29 Noon

Mass March to
demand: Stop the War at Home & Abroad More than 100 buses, along with vans
and car caravans arriving at the Capitol.
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Posted: Sep 22, 2007 4:24pm

 
 
 
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Author

Green Road A.
male , single, 1 child
Rohnert Park, CA, USA
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