Where are you going to get the money? That question haunts congressional proposals to help the poor, the unhoused, and those struggling to pay the mortgage or rent or medical bills, among so many other critical domestic matters. And yet — big surprise! — there’s always plenty of money for the Pentagon. In fiscal year 2022, in fact, Congress is being especially generous with $778 billion in funding, roughly $25 billion more than the Biden administration initially asked for. Even that staggering sum seriously undercounts government funding for America’s vast national security state, which, since it gobbles up more than half of federal discretionary spending, is truly this country’s primary, if unofficial, fourth branch of government...
Why, then, does each year’s NDAA rise ever higher into the troposphere, drifting on the wind and poisoning our culture with militarism? Because, to state the obvious, Congress would rather engage in pork-barrel spending than exercise the slightest real oversight when it comes to the national security state. It has, of course, been essentially captured by the military-industrial complex, a dire fate President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned us about 60 years ago in his farewell address. Instead of being a guard dog for America’s money (not to mention for our rapidly disappearing democracy), Congress has become a genuine lapdog of the military brass and their well-heeled weapons makers.
So, even as Congress puts on a show of debating the NDAA, it’s really nothing but, at best, a political Kabuki dance (a metaphor, by the way, that’s quite common in the military, which tells you something about the well-traveled sense of humor of its members). Sure, our congressional representatives act as if they’re exercising oversight, even as they do as they’re told, while the deep-pocketed contractors make major contributions to the campaign “war chests” of the very same politicians. It’s a win for them, of course, but a major loss for this country — and indeed for the world. - AlterNet
Monday, December 20, 2021
How bloated can the Pentagon budget get?
I'm passing this along because it's a thorough look at the current reality.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hmmm ... $25 Billion more than what Biden asked for ???
ReplyDeleteHow what a coincidence that Mike Rogers, the Ranking Republican offered an $24 Billion amendment in the House Armed Services Committee which approved it by 42-17 vote with 14 Democrats voting in favor.
Obviously, what we need is a little training on financial management ... and Good News, thanks to Jim Hagedorn, that should happen ... sorta ... not for Members of Congress but instead for military families overseas. Hagedorn amendment was accepted ... not sure of the cost, but overall there is a requirement for 2,000 or more servicemembers to be assigned to as full-time financial services counselors. The goal is to educate military families on making informed decisions about pay and benefits, improving their financial management skills, and enhancing their financial well-being.
BTW ... Hagedorn voted AGAINST HR 4350 National Defense Authorization Act ... as is did Emmer, Fishbach and Omar ... the bill passed 316-113.
I may have mislead some of your readers when I stated that Hagedorn, Emmer and Fischbach voted against funding increases for the Military Industrial Complex ... the House bill was not acceptable to the Senate, who offered their own bill S1605 ... which was included the additional $25 Billion that the House wanted but did not include certain provisions that some Republicans did not like. For example, a big stink was made when some Republicans and Democrats felt that registering for the military draft should be required for everyone ... not just males. Hagedorn, for one, was vocal about his insistence that women should not be required to register. Hagedorn fell into an interesting situation as Gerald Ford had ended the requirement for registering for the draft in 1975 but Jimmy Carter re-instated the requirement in 1980 when the Soviets invaded Afghanistan ... although there never was a "draft" men still had to register ... Hagedorn should have registered in 1981 (don't know if he did ... there were a lot of high profile people who did not ... including Jerry Ford's son which was the reason that some said he cancelled the requirement.) The requirement for women to register for the draft has been passed by the House since 2016. Funny thing is that when I got my flu shot, it was part of my annual physical ... and when I asked the nurse how she developed her "easy jab", she said she learned it in the military. Then when I got my Covid booster, the pharmacy technician told me that she got her training in the Army. Considering the shortages of nurses, maybe encouraging more women to join the military for skill training would be a wise idea.
ReplyDeleteHagedorn's statement on why he opposed the House bill also included concerns about military members being restricted to access to firearms via "Red Flag" laws (Emmer and Stauber also signed the letter.) That provision was dropped in the Senate version.
Hagedorn also objected to restrictions on extraction of natural resources on federal land ... I am not sure what the Senate did on that subject.
The bill that President Biden signed was the Senate bill ... so in the end all Minnesota Republicans in the House delegation voted for more spending. (Omar still voted no.)