Under last year’s deficit-reduction deal, domestic spending is dropping about one-quarter from 2010 levels. Meanwhile, military spending, which is supposed to be cut equally, is barely being nicked.
The tenth anniversary of 9/11 is becoming not only an occasion to take the national pulse, but to add up the figures spent on war.
When the economy goes south, congress persons cling to defense programs and jobs for their district.
With a new Congress with a House controlled by Republicans who have trumpeted deficit reduction as one of their central priorities, it would be logical to expect that there might be trimming in one of the largest and most bloated areas of US government spending: the nation’s $700bn military budget. However, the realities of Washington, DC are different than the rhetoric.
Republicans are finally conceding that defense cuts are needed. But it’s not just budget priorities that need to be reevaluated, but our global priorities.
Due to the economy, the time is rapidly approaching when real cuts to defense spending will become possible. Progressives need to start staking out their positions on doctrine and technology now.
The recently passed financial bailout package has drawn the ire of citizens throughout the United States. Both conservatives and liberals have condemned Congress and the White House for rescuing Wall Street titans, who caused the economic death spiral in the first place, by transferring an enormous fiscal burden to middle- and working-class taxpayers. At a time when people are losing their homes and struggling to make ends meet, many Americans find the bailout’s $700 billion price tag to be simply outrageous.