Shooting down the war tax

The current chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, David Obey, recently proposed a war tax that would increase income taxes on everyone. Familes in the lower and middle classes would have a 2% increase, while upper-class families would have their taxes increased 15%. What would these funds be used for?

Murtha, chief author of the Pentagon appropriations bill, said that that measure will instead contain enough money to fund the war until February or March. Democrats hope to send that bill to Bush before a stopgap funding measure expires on Nov. 16.

This is a bad idea - namely, that it would associate Democrats with continuing the war in Iraq - while reinforcing a negative stereotype (tax-and-spend). The House leadership shot the idea down, which was necessary. One has to wonder about the logic behind introducing such a bill. Taxing the American population - a group of people for whom the war is overwhelmingly unpopular - to continue the war is a mind-boggling concept. I understand that Obey is attempting to make a point when it comes to the fiscal recklessness of the Bush administration, caused by tax cuts and the Iraqi conflict. However, it’s about as useful as Rep. Charlie Rangel’s attempt to reinstate the draft back before we actually invaded Iraq. There’s a political point to be made, but it’s not a salient one that would ever pass in Congress. Given that Congress currently has worse approval ratings than Bush, it might be more reasonable to think about realistic ways of ending our involvement in Iraq.