White House Budget Priorities

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Douglas Ollivant ?@DouglasOllivant 6m
White House to ask for $60B for #Afghanistan in 2015. Entire State Dept budget in 2013 was $51.6B; DHS $59B.


WASHINGTON — The White House on Thursday will ask Congress for $60 billion to fund military operations in Afghanistan and other global contingencies, Defense News has learned.

The Pentagon would receive about $58.5 billion through the 2015 overseas contingency operations (OCO) request. A separate $1.5 billion budget amendment is being requested for State Department contingency funding, according to a source with knowledge of the spending plan.

The Defense Department and the State Department will also request $5 billion, part of a new counterterrorism fund, which President Barack Obama said he would include in the OCO budget during his commencement address at West Point in May. Of that, $4 billion would go toward DoD and $1 billion toward State. The spending plan that will go to Capitol Hill Thursday will include very few details about how DoD and State would spend that money, the source said.

The spending request will also include $1 billion to boost US military presence in Europe . . .

In an interview Tuesday, Pentagon Comptroller Robert Hale said the Pentagon’s 2015 OCO request would “be significantly below” the $79 billion placeholder the Pentagon included with its $496 billion base budget.


read: http://www.defensenews.com/article/20140625/CONGRESSWATCH/306250034

[pansypoo53219]

1. the money pit georgee made.

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3. it's better now, right?

While the budget certainly represents a shift away from many outdated and unproven technologies and weapon systems, it is, nonetheless, a ridiculous collection of goodies for the next-generation of self-perpetuating aggression abroad which is presented as a prudent response to 'threats' from rouge individuals spouting propaganda, a dubious threat from Iran, and the militarized resistance to our opportunistic occupations and military misadventures.

Much of the expenditures are intended to support the continuing military missions in Afghanistan and Iraq; in Iraq to shore-up the stalemate there, in Afghanistan to escalate the military mission to a state of sustained dominance until the Afghans can assume the intimidation with their own forces.

But, hey . . . let's all cheer the kinder, gentler defense budget - care of our friendly Bush holdovers in the Pentagon leadership. Be happy.

[onethatcares]

2. just the other day I was

saying to my wife, "Ya know honey, we gotta boost the U.S. military presence in Europe". Told her I didn't care if we couldn't eat or afford to get dental or medical care but that boots on the European mainland was the priority in my book.

Haven't seen her since, maybe she enlisted or sumpin.