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A Thanksgiving Day Threat from George W. Bush [VIDEO]

Posted by Faiz Shakir, Think Progress at 6:13 AM on November 22, 2007.


President Bush delivers a thanksgiving threat to fire 150,000 civilians at military bases unless the Democrats remove a timetable from the Iraq War funding bill.
A Thanksgiving Day Threat from George W. Bush

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This post, written by Faiz Shakir, originally appeared on Think Progress

The Bush administration is threatening that it will issue furlough notices to up to 150,000 civilian workers at military bases in mid-December if Congress does not approve unrestricted Iraq funding immediately. As part of this campaign, the Pentagon is distributing a document warning that the Army may cease to function if it does not receive the funds now. (View the document here.)

At a press conference this morning, Reps. John Murtha (D-PA) and David Obey (D-WI) rebutted the administration's scare-mongering by noting that, just last week, Bush signed a $471 billion defense spending bill. That bill "contains enough money to continue military operations through mid-February, because of a provision that lets the administration shift money to the war from other Pentagon accounts."

Murtha ripped the Pentagon's "Rumsfeld-like" tactics aimed at "scaring the families of the troops" just ahead of the Christmas season:

I thought we'd gotten rid of Secretary Rumsfeld, but this really worries me that there would be such a political document. ... This is a political document. They're scaring people. They're scaring the families of the troops with this document. That's the thing that's so despicable about what they're doing.

Digg!

Tagged as: bush, war funding, democratic congress

Faiz Shakir is the Research Director at the Center for American Progress and serves as Editor of ThinkProgress.org and The Progress Report.


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View:
My reply? Go ahead and do it you murdering bastard.
Posted by: Ellie1 on Nov 22, 2007 9:24 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I just hope the American idiots who back this president KNOW what is happening and want an end to this war.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» The idiots who Posted by: thekidde
» RE: The idiots who Posted by: Ian MacLeod
Happy Thanksgiving, America...
Posted by: wildbill on Nov 22, 2007 9:42 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
...from the turkey in Crawford, Texas.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

priorities
Posted by: DrXyzzy on Nov 22, 2007 9:49 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
They cut corners on body armor and care for vets, demand refunds on enlistment bonuses from wounded soldiers, threaten to lay off working people at the bases - but the river of cash to the cronies, the profiteers and the mercenaries, goes on and on.

Impeach. Start with Cheney. H.Res. 799 (was H. Res. 333).

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Stuff these turkeys
Posted by: thekidde on Nov 22, 2007 9:52 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
and roast 'em - Bush, Cheney, Rice (w/veggies?), Feith, Wolfowitz, Rove, Rummy (w/Coke), etc. Pitchforks and torches - take back America.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Thanksgiving? Not for Americans yet!
Posted by: Jammer2 on Nov 22, 2007 10:20 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
This sociopath, who first stole the White House and is currently holding it for ransom, is exactly what the world's terrorists want. Their goal is to destroy the American way of life, and so they sit in their caves watching CNN showing us destroy ourselves with no effort required on their part. In seven short years, King George II has degraded the honor of this country to our lowest point in history, and the worst is yet to come. Will he "fire" all those employees around military bases before Christmas? Hell yes he will, in the blink of an eye! Sociopaths do not recognize any value in other human beings, and they rarely acknowledge that they even exist except to serve at their pleasure. I wish that the lives of those amoral, low-life SOB's who put him in office were the ones going to be destroyed, but that will not happen. Decent hard-working Americans will suffer the greatest under the remaining evil reign of tyranny that King George II has brought upon this once great country.

Thanksgiving? Ha! When this pompous King is forcibly removed from the White House, which will happen because he will refuse to leave voluntarily, then we can have a true Thanksgiving. Until that time, I predict that liberty as we knew it will be suspended even further, allowing the White House Mafia the time to finish stealing everything of value that they covet from the American people. As long as our American youth is being sacrificed to improve the stock portfolio of King George II and Prince Cheney, Thanksgiving will sadly ring very hollow for mainstream America. God help us all!

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fire away.
Posted by: nor cal surfer on Nov 22, 2007 10:26 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
you're next, Bush.

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» RE: from your mouth to g*d's ears Posted by: boydranchitos
Not sure what the problem is here...
Posted by: l_m_n on Nov 22, 2007 12:50 PM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
150,000 jobs is a lot of jobs to lose and it's going to be awful for the families. But it's gotta happen. According to the author of Blowback, one-fourth of the US GDP is from various aspects of the military. For the longevity of our country it is essential that we remove jobs from the military sector. If our economy cannot handle being civilian-only then there is something more fundamentally wrong than anyone wants to admit.

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Answer to l_m_n
Posted by: AsteroidMiner on Nov 22, 2007 2:53 PM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Cutting 150,000 civilian jobs ultimately INcreases the defense budget. It is a pure
bluff. Notice he said furlough, not RIF. Furloughed federal employees get their
jobs back with back pay. The author of Blowback is wrong. Defense is nowhere
near 1/4 of GDP. For the longevity of our country it is essential that we continue
to have a defense, but quit wasting it on pointless irrelevant wars.
150,000 civilian jobs cannot be cut [RIFFED] from Defense without increasing the
total number of soldiers because the civilians provide what the soldiers need to
fight, create new equipment so that fewer soldiers will be needed in the future and
keep the contractors honest. Without the civilians, the soldiers have to fight with
obsolete equipment that doesn't work but costs more. Without the civilians, more
American soldiers get killed at higher cost. Department of Defense civilians are
the best bargain you will ever buy. Without them, you may as well hand the
treasury over to the contractors and expect nothing in return.
What the Republicans mean by "efficient" bureaucracy is a bureaucracy that just
writes blank checks to the contractors. We need "inefficient" bureaucrats, the
ones who make the contractors deliver weapons that actually work.

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» RE: Answer to l_m_n Posted by: talon53
I Belive
Posted by: donna2 on Nov 22, 2007 8:32 PM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
As i sit here on this thansgiving night and read the comments, i feel a great deal of sadness for the world as a whole,wondering when did things change in our country or has it always been like this,and i was looking at it with a differant set of values. the President of the U.S.A. has to do what he feels is right to protect the american people.If there is'nt enough money then most President will do what it takes to change minds.There have been many Presidents that have not been good for this country in our history but Americans, had something we don't have anymore and that is respect,respect for our selfs our family for mankind for the world we live in and leave to our childern,We all get caught up, in not the truth but in what can we blame on the President ,i hear he's the blame for everything that has happened in this country and every other place on earth,we can't stop what is happening hear on our own soil because we can't stop blameing someone else for any and all hard ships that come our way ,for that i feel ashamed never in all my life have i felt so ashamed for being an american.You see i don't want the bad of the world hearing all the things our President gets blamed for how unhappy we are ,how selfish we are how every President that we have is bad, for were never happy with them and it does not matter if there Republican or Deorcrats thay will still be to blame for all the hard ships for making choices for trying to save our lives or not, to sending men off to war or not for not giving us enough for giving us to much.Why in the world would anyone want to run?We the American people need to get it straight and start acting like Americans and be strong and realize that we all play a role on how the world see us and have helped degrade the honor of this Country and only when we do that will we be able to get out of the mess this country is in ,at home and aboard.

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» RE: You utter Moron Posted by: boydranchitos
» RE: I Belive Posted by: spratling
» RE: I Belive Posted by: Xynyx
» RE: I Belive Posted by: bigbad
» RE: I Belive Posted by: bigbad
» RE: I Belive... Posted by: blitzmesser
» RE: I Belive Posted by: talon53
» RE: I Belive Posted by: blitzmesser
» RE: I Belive Posted by: Quannah
Fine...
Posted by: justwow on Nov 23, 2007 11:03 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The more civilians who are directly affected by this bogus invasion, black hole of money and murderous venture the better.

Maybe if they lose their jobs they will wake up, stop drinking the koolaid and finally see the affect this is having on millions of innocent people.

I'm so sick of the apathy. I'm so sick of the way people completely ignore the human suffering. I'm so sick of the billions of dollars being spent to kill and displace civilians. I'm so sick of our veterans being thrown out like yesterday's garbage.

It's time for apathetic people with their heads in the sand in this country to experience some direct and devastating consequences from this debacle.

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Stop Spending Money
Posted by: osd on Nov 23, 2007 9:32 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
On alot of "Stuff" you do not really need. Wear it out, use it up, learn to fix it yourself. Don't spend your dollars on stuff made in China, who plans on dumping our dollars anyway. Stop buying so much crap at WALMART. Get board games, puzzles, build things with your kids to get them active and off the sugar tit of having there handout all the time to you for money. This big hole that has been dug for us can be fixed if we get our priorities straightened out. Not trusting elected officials until they have earned the trust. You have to particapate in life, and how they spend your tax dollars. We The People, need to take our country back. Get off our lazy asses. If it looks like a snake it is a snake. It should be called what it is. George W. Bush has been lying his whole life, why would you think that he could tell the truth? He can't, he doen't know how.

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Thug
Posted by: frank69 on Nov 28, 2007 9:33 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Bush is dumb ass bully.

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