In tweets and bills, MN liberals speak out on Afghanistan

The war Afghanistan has been playing second fiddle to the health care debate in Congress, but the liberal wing of Minnesota's delegation to the U.S. House has been making itself heard this week. Rep. Betty McCollum attached her name to legislation that would impose a surtax to pay for the war, now the subject of a protracted review by the Obama administration. The idea is to force a more honest accounting of the costs of ramping up U.S. involvement. Meanwhile, Rep. Keith Ellison, recently back from an unannounced trip to Afghanistan and Pakistan, is telling anyone who will listen that he opposes any troop buildup there. Using his Twitter account, which appears to have become his principal communication strategy for breaking news, Ellison said on Thursday: "I oppose troop plus-up esp since Karzai has not/won't clean up corruption. Abandoning women, democratic movement wouldn't be right either."