Why Spend $54 Billion More on the Pentagon? To Start a War, Obviously.

[rug]

The president apparently wants to put the U.S. on a permanent war footing to sustain his unpopular presidency.

by John Feffer
Published on Friday, March 24, 2017

So, let me see if I’ve got this right.

North Korea has been pushing its ally China to rein in the United States. Pyongyang is worried that Washington is about to launch a preemptive attack, so it has tried to use whatever minimal amount of influence it has to persuade China to use its considerable economic leverage with the United States to get those knuckleheads inside the Beltway to listen to reason.

Or maybe I misheard the report on the radio.

How about this: As a presidential candidate, Donald Trump promised to stop reckless U.S. military interventions overseas, like the one he so disliked (after it failed) in Iraq. So, as president, he is withdrawing all troops from Syria, reducing U.S. military presence in Asia, and pulling the United States out of NATO. Oh, and he’s going to cut the military as part of his overall promise to downsize government.

http://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/03/24/why-spend-54-billion-more-pentagon-start-war-obviously

[nycbos]

1. Does DOD even want the funds.

The pentagon has tanks gathering as scrap mettle because congress forces them to buy stuff they don't even want?

[rug]

2. They'll take it anyway.

[Worktodo]

3. You're talking about the "budget"

First, the "budget" is a fiction. The Executive Branch spends the money that Congress appropriates. Congress does this by passing all these different laws that says money must be spent for this or that. The "budget" is just an advisory thing a President can make out to indicate priorities but it doesn't mean anything at all. The Republicans made a big deal that "Obama didn't have a budget for so many years". They tried to make it sound important but it is not.

Second, the budget that Trump produced seems like it was made by sliding some numbers around in an excel spreadsheet with no tie back to reality. It's telling to me that the total spending does not go down at all-- rather the cuts from non-defense is just put into defense.

I don't think Trump's budget numbers are indicative of anything other than a really lazy budget making process.

[Initech]

4. We're already in a permanent war!!!

Have these morons forgot about Iraq and Afghanistan? Or do they want that fresh war smell?