Two Democrats threaten 'tax for troops'

WASHINGTON, Nov. 23 (UPI) -- Sending more U.S. troops to Afghanistan will be expensive, and U.S. taxpayers will have to foot the bill, members of President Obama's own party have said.

"There ain't going to be no money for nothing if we pour it all into Afghanistan," House Appropriations Chairman David Obey, D-Wis., told ABC News Monday. "If they ask for an increased troop commitment in Afghanistan, I am going to ask them to pay for it."

The U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, has asked the President for 40,000 more troops.

Obey is opposed to sending more troops, he said. If Obama goes ahead with it, he'll call for a new tax, a "war surtax," to pay for it, ABC reported.

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., the Senate Armed Services Chairman, has called for a similar tax to finance sending any more troops.

Obey warned that the high cost of the war in Afghanistan could make it impossible to finance the president's main domestic goals, ABC said.