Summary: ‘Why Your E-mails and Calls to Congress Are So Important Now in Defeating War Funding’
June 5, 2009
• On May 14, 2009, 60 members of the House of Representatives, including 51 Democrats, voted against the 2009 Supplemental Appropriations for Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq.
• One week later, the Senate passed its version of the supplemental that includes billions for the International Monetary Fund to bail-out European banks.
• This week, the House will vote on a new version of the 2009 Supplemental Appropriations bill presented by the House-Senate Conference.
• The war supplemental expected to come before the House this week will have no exit strategy from Afghanistan.
• Because of the inclusion of the IMF money, there is a real possibility the House could defeat the combined war/IMF supplemental, which would be a significant step towards ending the wars, as well as an important move towards reform of the IMF.
• House Republicans, including Minority Leader John Boehner, have threatened to vote no on the war funding if the IMF money is attached. If Boehner could bring all the Republicans with him, the war supplemental would fail on the floor of the House, 200-228, if most of the 51 Democrats who voted against the war supplemental last month stick to their NO vote this time.
• There are good reasons for Democrats to vote against IMF funding. While the billions of dollars for the IMF are touted as money to help poor countries in the current economic crisis, the fact is that IMF loans have been used to force cuts in social spending and increases in interest rates, on poor recipient countries, causing severe recessions and immeasurable economic hardship - the exact opposite of what is needed in a time of global recession.
• Can we count on the 51 democrats who voted no last month to vote NO again? Not necessarily. The House leadership didn’t need those anti-war Democrats before, so in a way it was a “free vote” - 51 Democrats could vote on behalf of their anti-war constituents without running afoul of the leadership. But if Treasury Dept. insists on the IMF money, and Republicans vote NO, the leadership will need 18 of those Democrats now to pass the supplemental.
• So, it is very important that all Democrats and Republicans in Congress, including the ones who voted against the supplemental last time, hear from us! Their vote will really count, and will make a difference!
• Your effort in contacting your Representatives will really make a difference!
• Tell them to vote NO for two good reasons:
To stop the war funding
To stop the IMF from imposing economic hardship
• When the war funding bill is defeated in the House, the story that will be told around the world is that there is unrest in Congress and in the United States about the seemingly never-ending wars, and that will bring closer the day that these wars end. Unrest in Congress helped bring about the U.S.-Iraq agreement for a withdrawal timetable, and the House vote against the U.S. bombing of Yugoslavia helped bring that bombing to an end.
Sources:
With IMF Money, the War Supplemental Could Fail in the House By Robert Naiman, June 3, 2009 (http://www.truthout.org/060309R)
Can Treasury Sneak IMF Money Through the Supplemental? By Robert Naiman, May 19, 2009 (http://www.truthout.org/051909J)
War funding fight gets complicated By David Rogers, June 2, 2009 (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0609/23263.html)