Tonight, the County Executive Committee of the Travis County Democratic Party approved a resolution urging the State Democratic Executive Committee to put a referendum on Iraq on the March 2008 primary ballot.
Only one person voted against the proposal.
The CEC is going to send a letter to State Chair Boyd Richie telling him of their endorsement of putting the referendum on the ballot.
Scott Cobb, who is leading the initiative, said he hopes that he can get other county CECs in November and December to approve the resolution before he takes it to the SDEC for their approval in January. The SDEC has the power to put the referendum on the ballot.
Anyone can sign the online petition for the Vote Us Out of Iraq referendum.
The proposed language reads, “Shall President George W. Bush and the U.S. Congress, in support of the men and women serving in the Armed Forces of the United States, end the U.S. occupation of Iraq and immediately begin the safe and orderly withdrawal of all United States forces.”
Meanwhile, the big national news today on the war concerned the cost of the war. Back in 2003, Bush said the war in Iraq would cost between 50 and 60 billion dollars. As it turns out, the war has cost about 40 times more than Bush said it would.
More on today’s war cost news from the Toronto Star:
WASHINGTON-George W. Bush has asked the U.S. Congress to approve another $45.9 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, bringing the 2008 tab to almost $200 billion and making it the most expensive year of military combat in his so-called “war on terror.”
…
According to the independent Congressional Research Service, the $196.1 billion request by Bush for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1 would bring the total cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and counterterrorism operations to more than $800 billion since terrorists struck the United States on Sept. 11, 2001.Even with an optimistic projection of half as many American troops in Iraq by 2017, the research service said spending on the wars would hit $1.45 trillion by then.
The Iraq war alone is costing U.S. taxpayers about $10 billion per month, or $330 million each day.
“The Iraq war is leaving us less secure, unprepared to fight an effective war on terror or respond to the unexpected. President Bush should not expect the Congress to rubber stamp this,” said Democratic Senate leader Harry Reid of Nevada.
