Kucinich: Democratic Budget Keeps War Going Well Into 2009

Ohio Democratic congressman Dennis Kucinich's congressional website http://kucinich.house.gov/ posted the following press release.

Kucinich: Democratic Budget Keeps War Going Well Into 2009

Washington, Mar 28 - WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 28) — In anticipation of tomorrow’s vote in the House of Representatives on the FY08 budget resolution, Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) released the following statement:

“This budget should reflect the mandate the Democrats were given by the American people in November,” Kucinich said. “The Democrats’ budget does just the opposite: it paves the way for the President to get $195 billion in funding for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“The President’s FY08 budget requests funding for the Iraq war well into 2009 and the Democrat budget accepts that timeline. On the most important issue of our time, we are falling right into line with the President’s plan for the war and his requests to fund it.

“The supplemental that just passed the House last week calls for a withdrawal of troops by August 2008. Why does the budget fund the war for perhaps an entire year past the withdrawal date in the supplemental? It appears that not only have some Democrats bought the war but they think they can win it when Bush has lost it.

“If we were serious about trying to stop the war, the budget would not contradict the supplemental. That is not what voters asked for in November of 2006.

“I will vote against the Democrats’ FY08 budget. We need to put an end to the funding of this misadventure in Iraq and instead invest the money in health care, education, job training, social services, seniors and the environment.

“The Democratic budget will push the total cost of the war to more than $800 billion. This budget does not end the war, it continues it.

“The American people want the war to end now, not in 2008, and not in 2009. The people want the war to end now."