Free Republic

<p>No link for this as I just heard this being reported on FOX News. It appears that some liberal lawmakers, Charlie Rangel, David Obey and a couple of others may be proposing a "War Tax" on the wealthiest of Americans to pay for any upcoming troop surge in Afghanistan.</p>

House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-Wisc.) and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) engaged in a late afternoon shouting match on the House floor after Obey reportedly rebuffed Waters on a $1 million earmark request, aides and witnesses said. Witnesses, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it appeared that Waters pushed or shoved Obey. The pair were seen shouting at each other and had to be separated by members -- who were gathered on the floor casting final votes before heading off to a party at the White House. Waters, according a Democratic staffer familiar with the situation, approached Obey to...

This "Thrilla in the Congress" has been brewing for a couple of weeks. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), has been upset that committee chair David Obey intended to deny her request to earmark $1 million dollars from the US Treasury for the Maxine Waters Employment Preparation Center. According to house sources it is never a good thing to get on the bad side of one of Maxine Waters’ outbursts. Two weeks ago Waters confronted Obey behind closed doors in a Democratic whip meeting. Obey told Waters that he was no longer allowing earmarks named after Members and would only make exceptions...

House Democrats told the president Monday he won't be getting money to close the military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, until he has a "concrete program" for shutting it down and moving its prisoners. The $80 million will be dropped from President Obama's supplemental request for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rep. David Obey told reporters. "So far as we can tell, there is yet no concrete program for that," said Obey, D-Wisconsin. "And while I don't mind defending a concrete program, I'm not much interested in wasting my energy defending a theoretical program. So...

Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee are asking questions about the lobbying activities of Craig Obey, who is the son of House Appropriations Committee chairman David Obey. The elder Obey is, as much as anyone, the author of the giant stimulus bill that passed the House. Craig Obey works for an organization called the National Parks Conservation Association, which describes its mission as "to protect and enhance America's national parks for present and future generations" and to "advocate for the national parks and the National Park Service." Now, it just so happens that the National Park Service...

WASHINGTON - House Democrats will allow a quarter-century ban on drilling for oil off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to expire next week. Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey is telling reporters that language continuing the moratorium will be omitted this year from a spending bill to keep the government in operating funds after Congress recesses for the election.

Rep. David R. Obey, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, yesterday threatened unilaterally to block President Bush's $189 billion emergency war-funding bill to force a U.S. pullout from Iraq and called for levying a surtax to cover the war's costs. Mr. Obey, breaking with the Democratic leadership that has failed repeatedly to end the Iraq war, said unless Mr. Bush establishes a goal to abort combat operations in Iraq by January, he would act alone to cut off war spending. "Future generations should not be saddled with paying for an ill-advised war in Iraq that seems to be never-ending," said...

A taxpayer watchdog group says Democrats in Congress are not living up to their promise of openness and transparency in the appropriations process. The group, Citizens Against Government Waste, says House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's vow that her party would preside over "the most honest, most open, and most ethical Congress in history" has already proven to be a phony promise. House Appropriations Committee chairman David Obey (D-Wisconsin) has announced he will allow all earmarks into conference reports, which are negotiated behind closed doors and cannot be amended when they reach the House and Senate floors. Obey's plan ignores rules that...

WASHINGTON -- Democrats controlling the House of Representatives demonstrated this month the hollowness of their claim that they have ended the corruption of 12 Republican years. Rep. John Murtha quietly slipped into the Intelligence authorization bill two earmarks costing taxpayers $5.5 million. The beneficiary was a contractor headquartered in Murtha's hometown of Johnstown, Pa., whose executives have been generous political contributors to the powerful 17-term congressman. This scandalous conduct would be unknown except for reforms by the new Democratic majority. But the remodeled system is not sufficiently transparent to expose in a timely manner machinations of Murtha and fellow earmarkers...

CNN played video of a presser where David “Idiot liberal� Obey AND his “idiot liberal� friend, Speaker Nancy Pelosi could not recall the actual date when they would began the 180 day countdown until defeat. In Rep. Obey’s case he couldn’t even remember the year Transcript: REP. DAVID R. OBEY, D-WIS.: Troops must be out of a combat role by October — I mean, by August of 19 — 2007.REP. NANCY PELOSI, D-CALIF.: 2008. If they meet (inaudible).OBEY: I’m sorry, that’s right.PELOSI: OK. But if they haven’t made any progress by July, we begin the 180 days. If they haven’t...

House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, D-Wisconsin, apologized Friday for a tirade against anti-war activists on Capitol Hill Monday that was secretly recorded on video and then posted on the Internet site YouTube. In the testy exchange, Obey -- who is himself an anti-war liberal -- called the activists "idiot liberals" for encouraging him to vote against the supplemental funding bill for the Iraq war even though for the first time the bill places a binding timeline for the redeployment of U.S. forces out of Iraq. "We're trying to use the supplemental to end the war," Obey told the unidentified...

If the chips fall right for Democrats and their party seizes control of the House, President Bush's agenda on Capitol Hill would fall into the hands of some of his most dogged opponents. It's not just would-be Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, but a boatload of Democrats newly running committees who would determine what legislation gets debated and which programs and agencies get scrutiny. So who are the chairmen to be? _a Polish-American lawyer with a reputation for making witnesses quiver. _a die-hard liberal from New York's Harlem with 35 years in the House. _a free-spending progressive from Wausau, Wis....

Thursday July 17, 2003 The Guardian As the CIA director, George Tenet, arrived at the Senate yesterday to give secret testimony on the Niger uranium affair, it was becoming increasingly clear in Washington that the scandal was only a small, well-documented symptom of a complete breakdown in US intelligence that helped steer America into war. It represents the Bush administration's second catastrophic intelligence failure. But the CIA and FBI's inability to prevent the September 11 attacks was largely due to internal institutional weaknesses. This time the implications are far more damaging for the White House, which stands accused of politicising...

WASHINGTON - The House passed a mammoth defense spending bill Monday evening, but only after a Republican congressman was forced to take back remarks accusing Democrats of "demonizing Christians." The rhetorical warfare came as the House considered a proposal by Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., to put Congress on record against "coercive and abusive religious proselytizing" at the U.S. Air Force Academy.

WASHINGTON - A Republican congressman accused Democrats on Monday of "denigrating and demonizing Christians" by concluding there was religious intolerance at the U.S. Air Force Academy. During debate on a proposal by Democrats that would put Congress on record against "coercive and abusive religious proselytizing" at the academy, Rep. John Hostettler (news, bio, voting record), R-Ind., criticized Reps. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., and David Obey, D-Wis. "Like a moth to a flame, Democrats can't help themselves when it comes to denigrating and demonizing Christians," Hostettler said. Democrats leapt to their feet and demanded Hostettler be censured for his remarks. After a...

The House passed a mammoth defense spending bill Monday evening, but only after a Republican congressman was forced to take back remarks accusing Democrats of "demonizing Christians." The rhetorical warfare came as the House considered a proposal by Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., to put Congress on record against "coercive and abusive religious proselytizing" at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Story Continues Below Rep. John Hostettler, R-Ind., criticized Obey and Steve Israel, D-N.Y., who offered a similar condemnation of academy officials earlier this year on another bill. "Like a moth to a flame, Democrats can't help themselves when it comes to...

Once again, Osama Bin Laden, hero to many in the Islamic world, has spoken. What did he say? Basically he said, "Do as I say or die." If Iraqis dare to vote for their own future, they will be considered "infidels" which in Muslim-speak means that they will become fair and legal targets. Not only will those voting be fair game but so will their children, wives, parents, and probably the family dog as well. This is the loving and kind nature of Islam. Do as you are told or die. Think of the numbers. If even 50 percent of...

MILWAUKEE -- A Roman Catholic bishop who waded into politics with a decree that lawmakers who support abortion rights can no longer receive holy communion has ignited a debate over the separation of church and state. Bishop Raymond Burke of La Crosse cited Vatican doctrine, canon law and teachings by the U.S. bishops in an announcement telling diocesan priests to withhold communion from such lawmakers until they ''publicly renounce'' their support of abortion rights. ''This is about as stark a decree to come down against Catholic politicians as we've seen in recent history,'' said Barry Lynn, executive director of the...

Last week Secretary Rumsfeld, Administrator Paul Bremer, and several other officials testified before both the Senate and the House about the request for $87 billion to finish the military and civilian tasks in Iraq. The first comments are about the responses of Democrats in Congress to these events. Robert Byrd: In the Senate, Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) said to Rumsfeld, "Where is the mandate to rebuild Iraq?" Rumsfeld pointed out that the job did not end with the winning of the war. That reconstruction was the necessary end of the process. He did not point out that America has done that...

Congressman, David Obey(D.) - Rep. Wisconsin, In a speech today, slams Rumsfeld, refers to the situation in Iraq a disaster, and calls on Bush to fire Rumsfeld.

<p>Sean Duffy, television star, lumberjack and district attorney, is considering a run against U.S. Rep. Dave Obey in 2004.</p> <p>Duffy, 31, best-known among Gen Xers for his role on MTV's "The Real World: Boston" in 1997, has a more serious side these days. He's married, has two children and became district attorney in Ashland County in 2002.</p>