Afghanistan: A GOP twofer?

David Obey, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee has introduced a war tax bill.

“As presidential historian Robert Dallek reminds us, ‘war kills off great reform movements’,” Obey said, noting that World War I ended the Progressive Era, Korea ended Harry Truman’s Fair Deal and Vietnam ended Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society.

Now, I know that’s supposed to be an argument against sending more troops to Afghanistan, but if you’re a Republican, isn’t it a pretty good argument for supporting the surge?

Surely some nefarious Republican operatives thought of this while the party was planning its response to Obama’s speech at West Point. The GOP’s reputation as the party of ideas isn’t all that bright at the moment, but any good Democrat can tell you that the GOP is still the master of skullduggery.

Actually, I haven’t any Republicans make the Obey argument. Of course, I may not be plugged-in to the nefarious side of the party. All I hear is security this and terrorism that.

On a related note, Obey’s comment about war being the enemy of reform tells you something about his war tax. His primary concern isn’t paying for the war. It’s stopping the war so that his domestic agenda can move forward.