Pressure Mounting as War Funding Threatened - Only 40 Dems Needed

Voters For Peace, June 9, 2009

The pressure is on. It will take 40 Democrats to vote against war funding to defeat the supplemental for Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Are there 40 anti-war Democrats willing to stop the wars by stopping the funding?

Why only 40 Democrats? The Republicans plan to vote against the war funding bill because it includes $108 billion in funding for the International Monetary Fund. The Republicans have 178 votes in the House of Representatives. A majority in the House is 218 votes. Therefore in order to stop war funding, all it will take is 40 Democrats to vote against war funding.

On May 14, 2009, 51 Democrats voted against the supplemental funding bill for the war. In addition, there were four Democrats absent for the vote including some additional Democrats opposed to war funding.

Pressure is mounting on the anti-war Democrats from party leadership. They have delayed the vote to pressure Democrats opposed to war because war funding is more fragile than it looks. Democratic leaders do not want to see a vote against war funding. To counter the influence of party leadership, it is urgent that you take action to urge Democrats to vote "no" on war funding. This will give anti-war Democrats greater power in the legislative process.

You can send a letter to your elected Member of Congress by clicking here.

You can also call your Member of Congress at 202-224-3121. This will get you to the congressional switchboard where you can ask for your representative.

Please help stop $96.7 million in more war funding by writing and calling your Member of Congress today. To continue to fund the wars and the IMF the United States will borrow $200 billion and then give it to the IMF and the wars. This puts the U.S. further in debt, mainly to China, and leaves a heavy burden on our children. All this is at a time of economic collapse and a deep recession.

The cost of the war is reason enough to vote against the funding. In addition, the U.S. is doing more harm than good in these wars. The wars undermine our national security by making us new enemies each time another civilian is killed. And, despite promises from the administration, there is no exit plan for Afghanistan nor have we seen any troops withdrawn from Iraq. We need to stop funding of endless wars.

Please take action today. The vote is likely to occur this week. So contact your representative now. Call (202-224-3121) and write your elected representatives and tell them to vote "no" on further war funding.