military spending Archives - Page 22 of 46

The Risk of Military Keynesianism

by John Feffer | Feb 9, 2009

With government budgets shrinking and the economic crisis putting greater pressure on social welfare programs, a shift of money from military budgets to human needs would appear to be a no-brainer. But don’t expect a large-scale beating of swords into ploughshares. In fact, if early signs are any indication, governments will largely shelter their military budgets from the current economic crisis. Call it the new military Keynesianism: the use of military spending to stimulate the economy and pull the country out of recession.

Keep Secretary Gates? This Simple Test Should Decide

by Miriam Pemberton | Nov 17, 2008

As the Bush administration’s mass exodus gets underway, President-elect Obama is hearing from a lot of quarters that his cabinet should include one key holdover. According to this thinking, he should leave the Pentagon in the hands of its current Secretary, Robert Gates. Fortunately, the new president will have in-hand an easy way to judge whether or not this is a good idea.

A Fat Budget for Weapons, Thin for Diplomacy

by Miriam Pemberton | Oct 7, 2008

In their first debate, Barack Obama and John McCain will audition for the role of change agent. Here’s one thing the moderator needs to ask: how they would change the military-led foreign policy of the past eight years.

U.S. Should Boost Nonmilitary Security

by Lawrence Korb, Miriam Pemberton | Sep 29, 2008

At a time when national consensus on anything is rare indeed, here’s one example: The balance between our spending on military forces and other security tools – like diplomacy, nonproliferation, foreign aid and homeland security – needs to change.

A Unified Security Budget for the United States, FY 2009

by Lawrence Korb, Miriam Pemberton | Sep 22, 2008

In this fifth annual edition of the “Unified Security Budget,” as with the previous four editions, a non-partisan task force of military, homeland security, and foreign policy experts laid out the facts of the imbalance between military and non-military spending. The ratio of funding for military forces vs. non-military international engagement in the Bush administration’s proposed budget for the 2009 fiscal year has widened to 18:1 from 16:1 in the 2008 fiscal year, according to the report.

Raiding the War Chest

by Miriam Pemberton | Jun 1, 2008

An economy slouching toward recession, or—depending on who you talk to—already there, has produced two seemingly contradictory effects. It has pushed the worst foreign policy disaster in U.S. history off the top of the list of citizen concerns. And it has simultaneously gotten those citizens, and even their members of Congress, talking much more about that disaster’s economic costs.

China: Superpower or Basket Case?

by Samuel A. Bleicher, John Feffer | May 8, 2008

China as an “emerging superpower” makes for a compelling story line in the media. It is reinforced by the propaganda image that the current Chinese leadership would like us to accept. But the reality is quite different. Although recent events in Tibet and western China – and the central government’s response – appear to be generating pro-government patriotic feelings, they dramatically display the practical limits of the government’s power. Other sources of unhappiness with the regime, including income disparities and the inevitable collapse of unsustainable price controls on fuel and food, could breed both urban and rural discontent that has no ready outlet besides unlawful opposition to the government.

The Iraq Supplemental: A Three Ring Circus

by Erik Leaver | May 8, 2008

After weeks of backroom negotiations, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) finally unveiled the latest plan for funding the Iraq War late Tuesday night. As the plan was unveiled, anti-war groups ranging from United for Peace and Justice to Win Without War to the Iraq Campaign 2008 joined voiced for the first time in their call to urge members to vote no on the funding. But while their messages are clear on the funding, the actual content and implications of the other provisions in the bill needs careful examination.

Talking Peace, Preparing for War

by John Feffer | Apr 14, 2008

Northeast Asia heaved a sigh of relief at the latest news of a breakthrough in the nuclear negotiations with North Korea. The prospects of integrating North Korea into the international community and constructing a peace and security structure for the region have never been rosier.

Dems: What about the Military Budget?

by William D. Hartung, Miriam Pemberton | Feb 21, 2008

One issue that will not be discussed in tonight’s presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama is our nation’s burgeoning military budget. Earlier this month, the Bush administration announced a proposed military budget of $614 billion, not counting the full cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This represents the highest level of spending since World War II, even though our most dangerous adversary is a dispersed terrorist network measured in the tens of thousands, not a nuclear-armed Soviet Union whose armed forces were measured in the millions.