Top House Democratic appropriators said Tuesday they will not move a new war funding bill until early next year and will condition it on a goal of January 2009 for an end to U.S. combat operations in Iraq.

Appropriations Committee Chairman David R. Obey of Wisconsin and Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman John P. Murtha of Pennsylvania said two other benchmarks also should be met before more funds are appropriated for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan: adequate time at home between deployments for U.S. troops and an intensive diplomatic effort involving other countries in the region.

“As chairman of the Appropriations Committee I have absolutely no intention of reporting out of committee anytime in this session of Congress any such request that simply serves to continue the status quo,” Obey declared in a statement.

To dramatize the cost of the Iraq War, which the Congressional Budget Office estimates is running $10 billion a month, the appropriators also proposed an income tax surcharge to pay for future military operations in Iraq, further inflaming political passions over the issue.

“We need to stop pretending this war doesn’t cost anything,” Obey said.

Republicans expressed displeasure with the suggestion of a tax surcharge.

“Raiding every taxpayer’s wallet for the purposes of playing politics with our national security amounts to some of the most irresponsible public policy I’ve seen in a long, long time,” House Minority Leader John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, said in a statement.