military budget Archives - Page 3 of 20

The World According to Robert Gates

by Keith Menconi | Jul 1, 2011

Calls for deep cuts in the federal deficit have returned the military budget–now more than twice the 2001 budget even before counting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan–to the fiscal chopping block for the first time in ten years. In response, former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates spent his last months in office stiffening his rhetorical defense of the Pentagon budget. His discourse reveals both the distance we have come in recent years in eliminating Pentagon inefficiencies and excesses, and the numerous dangers threatening American security around the world.

Obama and Gates Disagree to Agree on Military Spending

by Gareth Porter | Apr 21, 2011

The shell game that defense cuts have become underscores the need for an independent review of the budget.

Worshiping the Sacred Pig

by John Feffer | Apr 19, 2011

Washington is a slaughterhouse these days, as politicians from across the political spectrum take their knives to the budget. Going under the blade are dozens of social programs that provide food for low-income women and children, energy assistance to folks who can’t pay their heating bills, and health care provided through community centers.

In its luxury pen, meanwhile, the sacred pig grows fatter and fatter.

The No-Doctrine President

by John Feffer | Apr 12, 2011

Zoologists get pretty excited when they discover an unusual animal. They happily devote many hours to the task of classifying the beast and, if it qualifies as a new species, giving it a name. A great deal of money and prestige rides on these scientific endeavors. The same applies to the political sphere, where new and unusual creatures frequently turn up. When it comes to Barack Obama, however, political zoologists remain undecided whether he is a new kind of political animal and if his foreign policy represents a unique departure from the same old, same old.

The Geopolitics of Stupid

by John Feffer | Apr 5, 2011

He’s an activist who has used the Internet to fight for what he believes in. He is a member of civil society committed to living in truth. He doesn’t live in Cairo or Tunis or Damascus. He doesn’t live in an oppressive society at all, unless you consider Gainesville, Florida an oppressive place. Instead of setting himself on fire, like Mohamed Bouazizi in Tunisia, the preacher Terry Jones has set fire to a book, the Qur’an. It wasn’t a very original idea – the first emperor of China burned books and so did the Nazis – but then, neither is self-immolation.

The OPEC of Outrage

by John Feffer | Feb 22, 2011

Rage is an important energy source. It fueled the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, and is powering the ongoing protests in Libya, Yemen, and Bahrain. People in the Arab world have directed their anti-government anger at corruption, economic mismanagement, and human rights abuses. There’s no shortage of things to be angry about. The regimes may control the oil. But the people have access to the renewable resource of rage.

Republican Calls to Drain the Pentagon Swamp Provide Window for Democrats to Climb Through

by Peter Certo | Feb 2, 2011

Citing canard that moderates are more inclined to respect Republicans on national security matters, libertarians and Grover Norquist call for defense cuts than Democrats.

Will Pentagon Be Exempt From Budget Cuts?

by Jim Lobe | Nov 24, 2010

With pressure to slash the 1.3 trillion-dollar federal deficit rising sharply, the public debate over whether to exempt the Pentagon from such cuts is moving rapidly toward centre-stage.

We Have to Trim the Bloated Pentagon Budget and Use the Cash for a ‘Green Dividend’ to Create Good Jobs

by John Feffer, Miriam Pemberton | Oct 1, 2010

Creating jobs is not easy work. The federal government, challenged at every turn by Republican opposition in Congress, has been unable to push through a second stimulus package focused specifically on jobs. The private sector, which the Tea Partiers see as the motor of the economy, has been sitting on an unprecedented amount of wealth — a record $837 billion in cash — that companies are saving for better investment opportunities.

North Korea: Why Engagement Now?

by John Feffer | Aug 13, 2010

Relations between the United States and North Korea, never particularly warm, have truly frosted over in recent months. The Obama administration, in the wake of the Cheonan incident, has added financial sanctions to a lengthening list of efforts to box in Pyongyang. In conjunction with Seoul, Washington has ramped up military exercises in the region. Six Party Talks have been suspended since the end of the Bush administration, and there haven’t been bilateral discussions for more than six months. Hillary Clinton has continued to speak of U.S. willingness to sit down and negotiate. But in Washington, engagement with North Korea is about as popular as BP stock. Anti-American rhetoric and threats, meanwhile, remain de rigueur in Pyongyang.