That’s how much was raised for Care packages in one day on a web-a-thon, with a lousy background and lousy sound!

The original goal was $500,000, but the American people came out for the troops, as we always do.

God bless our troops and thank you for your contribution.

*Update* In the event you are experiencing difficulty accessing the Move America Forward webpage to donate, you may also do so here.
Sue

If you know a man or woman who has served or is serving this country in the US military, offer them extra thanks today.

Armed Forces Day
“America Supports You”
Saturday, May 19, 2007

PDF Version President Harry S. Truman led the effort to establish a single holiday for citizens to come together and thank our military members for their patriotic service in support of our country.

Instead of doing the Constitutional thing and voting to defund the war Congress has decided to let our soldiers die by a thousand cuts.

The Democrats still want to tie supplemental funding to withdrawal dates while knowing the president will veto it. This time we have waivable timelines, whatever their definition of “waivable” is.

We are over 100 days from the president’s request for supplemental funding and we haven’t made any progress on it whatsoever.

We are way past the critical point and I feel so bad for the soldiers who put their lives at risk every day and this is the thanks they get.

Negotiations for emergency war funds stalled as soon as they began yesterday, with both the White House and the Democrat-led Congress immediately rejecting the other’s modest concessions.

After emerging from an hourlong Capitol Hill meeting, President Bush’s chief of staff, Joshua B. Bolten, said the Democrats’ offer of waivable timelines for withdrawing troops from Iraq were unacceptable.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the White House’s proposal of policy benchmarks, backed up by the threat of cutting off aid to Iraq, was too weak.

The Democratic leaders, who say they will continue to push for an end to the war in Iraq, plan to draft a funding bill over the weekend and pass it by the end of next week, before Congress takes a weeklong Memorial Day break beginning May 28.

“Whether [the president] vetoes the bill or not is up to him,” said Mr. Reid, Nevada Democrat. “We have a responsibility to the American people, and we’re going to live up to that every minute of the next week.”

Mr. Bush vetoed the $124 billion bill Congress sent him last month because it included a pullout timetable, and he has made it clear he will veto any measure that restricts funds or dictates military strategy.

“Whether waivable or not, timelines send exactly the wrong signal to our adversaries, to our allies and, most importantly, to the troops in the field,” Mr. Bolten said. “The president is the one who has the authority to act as commander in chief. He needs to be the one making those decisions.”

The Republican National Committee released internal poll results yesterday that showed the majority of voters siding with Mr. Bush in the funding standoff, though the country remains deeply divided over the war.

About 60 percent say war funds should not come with a pullout timetable, and 32 percent say Congress should withhold funds until the president agrees to a withdrawal schedule, according to the poll. It also showed that 56 percent of voters say that setting a withdrawal date lets the enemy know when they can win.

But both sides vowed to stand firm in the tussle over $100 billion to pay for the war in Iraq and Afghanistan until the end of the fiscal year.

I’m tired of the same old rhetoric and I’m sick of our soldiers having to bend over and get a kick in the pants from their own government.

This is not a large blog and probably never will be, but we have many people who visit every day and don’t make comments.

I’m asking you to contact your Congressman on Monday and tell him or her it’s time to get a bill through that can be passed for the sake of our troops who didn’t ask to be in this situation.

If you don’t know the name or telephone number of your Congressman go here.

You can find information on how to contact your senators here, and you can find contact information for the White House switchboard here.

Everyone claims to support the troops. Now let’s see some action and stop with the lip service.

And if you want to show some personal support for the troops go here and give a couple of $25 donations to make a soldier’s life a little more pleasant. So you give up a couple of meals out. It will be worth it.

If you give to the USO you probably will want to know what your gift will do. Check the FAQs as the link I gave you is only from the receipt of what I sent and not the original information.

One question you will probably have is asked and answered here:

What items are included in the packages?

Generally, the care package contains, at a minimum, one prepaid international calling card, a disposable camera, toiletries, sunscreen and a generic message of support from the sender. Other items that are donated from manufacturers are included so that the maximum weight of each package is approximately 2 lbs. The retail value of each package generally is between $50 and $75.