December 1, 2009 2:55 PM

Ben Nelson Floats Paying for Afghanistan Surge with War Bonds

By
Stephanie Condon
Topics
Afghanistan
(AP Photo/Harry Hamburg)
Updated at 4:55 p.m. ET with comments from Sen. Carl Levin on a war supplemental.

Anticipating the increased troop levels in Afghanistan President Obama is expected to announce tonight, lawmakers are floating various ways to pay for the ongoing war.

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) today suggested the idea of selling war bonds to pay for sending troops to Afghanistan, reports CBS News Capitol Hill Producer John Nolen.

"Some people jumped right out and said you need a war tax, and I said wow, we didn't have a war tax in the Second World War," Nelson said. "The fact that we had bonds, war bonds, and people invested in their country in that fashion made a lot of sense back then. I don't know why it might not make sense today, certainly in lieu of jumping to tax."

Rep. David Obey, a Wisconsin Democrat and the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, has called for a tax on the rich to help pay for the troop increase, but the idea has been dismissed by some as politically infeasible.

The federal government sold war bonds during World War II, using celebrities and radio campaigns to persuade people to buy them to finance the war effort. Hundreds of millions of bonds were issued -- and in fact, many were unclaimed. The government is currently sitting on $17 billion in unclaimed war bonds, the Washington Post reports.

Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said today he thinks Congress will have to pass a war supplemental bill, though he does not think there will be a vote on one this year, Nolen reports. Levin also dismissed the idea of a war tax.

"I don't think any tax increase in the middle of a recession -- except a tax on the upper income bracket, which has done so very, very well, even in the middle of a recession -- can happen," he said.

Meanwhile, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said today that a war surtax is unnecessary, Nolen reports. Instead, McCain said, the government could simply put an end topork barrel spending and earmarks. That would amount to about $60 billion from this year's appropriations bills, McCain said.

More Coverage of Obama's Speech:

Washington Unplugged: Afghanistan In-Depth
Obama Outline to Include 2012 Endgame
Obama Speech Is First "Address to the Nation"
NATO: Obama Wants up to 10,000 Soldiers
Afghan Plan Revives Nation-Building Debate
Spokesman Robert Gibbs on Afghanistan: Not Nation-Building
Cheney: Obama Showing "Weakness" to Adversaries
Polling Analysis: Afghanistan 2009 Vs. Iraq 2007
CBSNews.com Special Report: Afghanistan

You can watch the speech on your CBS station at 8 p.m. ET or online at CBSNews.com.

Add a Comment
by h20bouy_99 December 2, 2009 3:07 PM EST
I think it's a great idea. Supporting our troops and supporting the war in Afghanistan are two different things. I'd like to see if the publicans really have the support they claim they have.
Reply to this comment
by bubbadubba December 1, 2009 6:28 PM EST
"The last report I saw is it costs $1M per troop per month."

That's per year not month and it is baloney and I knew it when I first heard it. The real figure is more like $100,000 per military member PER YEAR. More inflated bogus figures by who knows who released that figure. I think we need to get out of Iraq and Afghanistan TODAY but I can do math and use my brain to determine when something is ridiculous.
Does anyone really think each soldier costs us 2,800.00 a day when we pay them poverty wages? Well maybe Halliburton and KRB are making a millions day feeding the soldiers, that might explain it.
Reply to this comment
by bubbadubba December 1, 2009 6:24 PM EST
Put a windfall profit tax on the oil companies, they are the reason we went to war with Iraq and Afghanistan so let them pay for it.
Reply to this comment
by truth-b-toll December 1, 2009 4:11 PM EST
Tax Haliburton et al, no wait we can't cause they are HQ offshore...
Reply to this comment
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