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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.

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

Sure it's not, scumbag.

And the efficiency of the armed forces without these civilian workers will take a hit, no doubt.

Especially in the Air Force where almost half our work is contracted out, mainly due to Rummy's gross mismanagement and fucking with us. He did what amounted to laying off a significant portion of our branch of service that was filled with civilian labor. Lay off those civilians and the AF takes a steep plunge in work efficency.

Before I begin, my father works on Tinker Air Force Base. He may very well end up cut.

It is not the DoD. The DoD has it's orders to keep fighting, it cannot withdraw without authorization from the President. Withdrawing without orders is something we have a name for, it's mutiny. It's still a capital offense, especially in time of war. When it comes down to it the DoD has no choice, the war must be funded. Ammo, food, medicane and other needed supplies must be shipped. Troops in the sand must be paid. The tools to maintain their gear and vehicles must be made available. Anything else is abandoning over a hundred thousand people to die and frankly we're doing to much backstabbing to them as it is!

To be blunt blaming this on the DoD is like blaming the postman for your credit card debt. Without orders to begin a pull out from the President or a vote from Congress to do the same that overrides Presidental Veto, it must do whatever it has to do to continue funding the war. Something has to be cut and the civilian workers are the most expendable asset.

So basically two things must happen to save these jobs. Congress must issue the funding or Jr must back down and accept a timetable.

My own opinion of the war aside, I believe Jr should accept a timetable. The people have spoken they're done, they don't want to keep fighting and they don't feel the sarifice is worth the prize. There is no magic speech or figure or fact that will change their mind at this point and to be frank The Bush Admineration brought this on themselves, I do not feel any pity for them. My pity is for my brothers in arms stuck out in the sand being used as expendable pawns for political points and for the Iraqs, who seemed to have been forgotten by everyone in power.

I hope one way or another that these jobs can be saved, but given that both sides can look in a mirror and blame the other side and that they feel they are standing on principal. I do not expect these jobs to be saved.

Quite honestly, this is the fallout from only one source, and that's the Senate Republicans. Because there are endless, often dishonest, but very real, routes to get the funding and keep fighting once the funding is up for a vote in the Senate. Amendments. Reid capitulating. Dirty conference tricks. Signing statements.

....But for pride, the head of the Senate Republicans has decided that, rather than pay the DoD so they can fund the troops, even with a withdrawl, rather than fight to remove the withdrawl, rather than do anything responsible.. He will filibuster the funding.

That is who we blame. I'd love to blame Bush. Perhaps he or one of his handlers made the call to block the funding. But it's blocked.

And if Jr says he'll yield and make a time table tomorrow for Congress, then it won't matter what the Senate head of the GOP says will it? The rest of the Republicians won't stick with him when even the Commander in Chief is jumping ship.

Jr could stop this from happening as soon as tomorrow but he won't. He's in Command, he takes responsibility!

I still blame Rummy for his dismissal of a significant portion of our Air Force Branch for the strong upscale in civilian employment in the AF. Half of my shop is contractors. Without them we lose untold years of experiance and training and skill.

I don't blame the DoD on this one, we had no choices in any matter. I blame Congress and I blame the Presidental Administration for this grand assfucking. So until we lose one or the other we're all fucked by this from the lowest to the highest in the armed forces.

frigidmagi wrote:And if Jr says he'll yield and make a time table tomorrow for Congress, then it won't matter what the Senate head of the GOP says will it? The rest of the Republicians won't stick with him when even the Commander in Chief is jumping ship.

Jr could stop this from happening as soon as tomorrow but he won't. He's in Command, he takes responsibility!

This is the G. W. Bush Administration. The sign on the desk says 'The Buck Stops... HEY LOOK! BIKES!'.

Really, and I thought it said "Omnes relinquite spes, o vos intrantes"

Silence and I wrote:That's Abandon All Hope Ye who enter here... More or less

Cute.