We won!!! 149 Members (147 Democrats and 2 Republicans) voted against $163B in Iraq occupation funds, and only 141 Members voted for it. (Roll Call below).

Those 149 no votes were the result of your protests, emails, and calls - congratulations!!!

Speaker Pelosi knew a majority of Democrats opposed the funds, but she pushed the vote anyway, assuming Republicans would provide the votes needed to approve the funds. But 132 Republicans decided to vote "present" to protest the outrageous and un-democratic procedures Pelosi used to bring the bill to the floor. According to Politico,

Many liberal Democrats, overjoyed that the measure failed, burst into applause after the vote was brought to a close. “The war is over!” screamed Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) on the House floor.

Of course, this is just a temporary win. The Senate will vote on funding, and if it passes the Senate, it will come back to the House. So call your two Senators at 202-224-3121 and tell them both to vote no on Iraq occupation funds. 

And if your House Representative voted against the funds, please call 202-224-3121 to thank him or her!

On Thursday, Speaker Nancy Pelosi will try again to force the House to approve $163 billion more of our tax dollars for the occupation of Iraq - nearly $100 billion for 2008 plus nearly $70 billion more for 2009.

Last week, your passionate calls persuaded several Democrats to vote no and helped delay the vote for a week. Please call your House Representative again today at 202-224-3121!

We are outraged because this Democratic Congress was elected to end the occupation, not fund it forever. A new Democrats.com poll found an overwhelming 68% of Americans want to bring our troops safely home within 6 months - a significant increase from 54% last September.

On 4/11/08, George Bush told ABC News he personally approved of the approval of torture - including waterboarding - by Dick Cheney, Condoleeza Rice, Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell and George Tenet.

Bush said, "Yes, I'm aware our national security team met on this issue. And I approved."

You would think a President confessing to war crimes would be on the front pages of all the nation's newspapers, and all over their editorial pages - not just on Countdown and The Daily Show.

You'd be wrong. The only newspapers that have covered the story are in the box on the right.

Is your newspaper missing from this list? Then let's work together to do something about it.

We're calling this action our "Torture News Strike."

Call the Editor of your local newspaper and tell him/her you are suspending your subscription until they give Bush's torture confession the serious coverage it deserves either in the news or editorial section, or preferably both.

If you get home delivery, then call the circulation department and tell them to suspend delivery until further notice. (If you buy at the newsstands, read something else.)

Want to connect with other activists who read the same newspaper as you? Read more...

http://iraqtownhalls.com

In April, Congress will vote to give George W. Bush and Dick Cheney another $102 billion for Iraq - unless we finally persuade our Representatives to Just Say No.

One of the best ways to persuade a Representative is to hold a town hall meeting and fill the hall with people who care and are willing to speak passionately. (Another way is to turn out a crowd for a town hall that your Representative is already scheduled to attend.)

So we're asking YOU and the 500,000 members of Democrats.com to organize Iraq Town Halls in all 435 Congressional districts on any day in April.

Check for an Iraq Town Hall already being planned in your district: To do this, you must be registered and logged in on this website. Once you are, go to http://democrats.com/local and look for an Iraq Town Hall announcement below the "Congressional District" heading. If you see one, open it and post a comment below it offering to help, or contact the organizers in whatever way they have suggested (they may have posted a phone number or Email address).

Start organizing an Iraq Town Hall using the tools on this website: If there's nothing yet being planned in your district and you want to start talking with others about planning a possible town hall, or if you're ready to post an announcement of an Iraq Town Hall, please Email us at: iraqtownhall@democrats.com We will walk you through the steps involved. To get started on your own (it's really not that hard) CLICK HERE.

For tips on how to make your Iraq Town Hall a success, READ MORE.