100k+ to be laid off to continue war.

[SirNitram]

Link

Merry Christmas from Washington: With Congress balking at continued war funding, the White House says the Defense Department will issue furlough notices to about 100,000 civilian workers at military bases in mid-December.

The threat of notices is the White House’s way of reminding Congress that it must authorize continued funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The House has voted to tie $50 billion in continued funding to a timeline for troop withdrawals, but that measure has been shelved in the Senate. The White House is calling on Congress to approve a spending bill before year’s end. If funding isn’t provided, the Defense Department says, the stall will have a “profoundly’’ burdensome impact on its operations.

“Before you furlough anyone, you have to provide notice,’’ White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said this morning. “If Congress provides the full funding, then the Department of Defense will not have to take the step’’ of furlough notices. They will have to be issued in mid-December, she said.

Perino also acknowledges that this was a warning shot across the bow of Congress – “that’s exactly what that was.’’

“It is not us who is making any civilians suffer,’’ she said. “We are calling on Congress.’’

The full transcript, instead of that chopped up, one-sided one:

QUESTION: Are you saying that these furloughs would begin before they come back from this vacation?

PERINO: The notices. I’m not sure of the date. I know that they have to notice because under the rules you have to give people, I think it is 60 to 90 days worth of notice that they could be furloughed. So that could happen.

QUESTION: So this is a way to remind Congress that you want them to pass this bill?

PERINO: That’s exactly what that was.

QUESTION: So you’re making them suffer –

PERINO: I’m making the Democrats suffer?

QUESTION: No, you’re making the civilians who work for the Defense –

PERINO: Oh, no, it is not us who are making any civilians suffer.

QUESTION: There ought to be –

PERINO: We are calling on Congress to –

QUESTION: How many billions have we spent already for the Defense Department?

PERINO: The Defense Department says that they need this funding in order to keep the war running, as well as to keep these civilians…

QUESTION: Maybe they don’t want the war to keep running.

[Gaidin]

I couldn't help but laugh at the blatant "Has it ever occurred to you that..." nature of the last line of the transcript. That was great.

[Broomstick]

Oh, fuck - just what I don't need, another 100,000 people looking for work at the same time I am!

The economy news gets shittier all the time.

[Covenant]

Oh, fuck - just what I don't need, another 100,000 people looking for work at the same time I am!

The economy news gets shittier all the time.

I'm currently unemployed as well, so this is lovely news. ;__;

[Ghost Rider]

Maybe they don’t want the war to keep running.

That statement alone flies over the heads of the White House and the supporters of the war.

And to think we still have little more then a year of these lovely antics...at the very least. Not that I believe the war will end and everyone will be home by Jan 21 of 2009, but fucking A.

[CmdrWilkens]

Honestly I don't know why the Dems din't just do the same thing during the last cycle: Just refuse to fund the war. There isn't anything Bush can do as nothing he can conjure up changes the constitutional requirement for all spending bills to originate in the house. If he wants to run the war then he gets to do so with the DOD budget we gave him. If its not enough then end the war or come to the table ready to talk about the end of the war.

[Darth Wong]

Honestly I don't know why the Dems din't just do the same thing during the last cycle: Just refuse to fund the war. There isn't anything Bush can do as nothing he can conjure up changes the constitutional requirement for all spending bills to originate in the house. If he wants to run the war then he gets to do so with the DOD budget we gave him. If its not enough then end the war or come to the table ready to talk about the end of the war.

The problem is that the Democrats aren't sure where they stand on the war. There are a number of prominent Democrats who supported it, and who continue to support it.

[The Yosemite Bear]

in politics you use the budget you get, no the budget you want?

[Falkenhayn]

Odd that they didn't release where those civilian workers are being furloughed from. It seems unlikely to me that the Administration would miss an opportunity like this to put pressure on Congress.