Tag: Budgetary Debate

Elimination Games

Donny’s ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ is making it’s way through Congress and if passed will be put on Donny’s desk for his Magic Sharpie to do it’s thing….

For those that have no idea what will be eliminated from our government this list will give you an idea….

Economic and jobs programs

  • Economic development assistance programs. This provides some $2 billion in grants to economically struggling communities.
  • Economic Development Administration. $113 million.
  • Job Corps. More than $1.7 billion.
  • AmeriCorps (officially known as the Corporation for National and Community Service). $976 million.
  • Minority Business Development Agency. $68 million.
  • Community Service Employment for Older Americans. $405 million.
  • The Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau.
  • NASA’s Office of Science, Tech, Engineering and Math Engagement. $143 million.

Oversight

  • Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. This office is a watchdog, tasked with making sure there is no discrimination in contracting. $111 million.
  • Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board. $14 million.

Health and living programs

  • Administration for Community Living, which supports older and disabled Americans’ ability to live independently. More than $2.4 billion.
  • U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. $4 million.
  • The Department of Health and Human Services’ Prevention and Public Health Fund. $1.4 billion in funds planned for FY 2026.
  • Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Trust Fund. $338 million.

Assistance programs

  • LIHEAP, the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program. More than $4.1 billion.
  • Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve. $7 million.
  • Refugees and asylumees. Cash, medical and other social service assistance is eliminated. No summary figure given.

Legal and labor programs

  • The Department of Justice’s Community Relations Service. This division works to mediate and confront community tension. $24 million.
  • Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, which mediates labor disputes. $54 million.
  • Legal Services Corporation, one of the nation’s largest funders of civil legal aid. $560 million.

Media and communications

  • U.S. Agency for Global Media, which includes Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, Radio Free Europe. $857 million.
  • Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private nonprofit that distributes federal funding to public media organizations, including to NPR and PBS. This would affect local stations and programs like the PBS News Hour. $595 million.

Democracy and international development

  • Inter-American Foundation, funding community development in Latin America and the Caribbean. $47 million.
  • Educational and Cultural Exchange Programs (former part of USAID). $741 million.
  • Woodrow Wilson Center. $15 million.
  • U.S. Institute of Peace. $55 million.
  • African Development Foundation. $45 million.

Arts

  • National Endowment for the Arts. $207 million.
  • National Endowment for the Humanities. $207 million.
  • Institute of Museum and Library Services, a small federal agency that supports museums and libraries around the country. $295 million.

Regional authorities

  • Delta Regional Authority. $41 million.
  • Denali Commission in Alaska. $38 million.
  • D.C. Tuition Assistance Grant program. $40 million.
  • Northern Border Regional Commission. $46 million.
  • Great Lakes Authority. $5 million.
  • Southeast Crescent Regional Commission. $20 million.
  • Southwest Border Regional Commission. $5 million.

Native American programs

  • Indian Land Consolidation Program. $4 million.
  • Indian Guaranteed Loan Program. No new loans to be guaranteed.
  • Institute of American Indian and Alaska Native Culture and Arts Development, a higher education institute in Santa Fe. $12 million.
  • Office of Navajo and Hopi Indian Relocation. $2 million.

Wildlife

  • State and Tribal Wildlife Grants program. $72 million.
  • Multinational Species Conservation Fund. $21 million.
  • Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Fund. $5 million.
  • Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund. $23 million in discretionary funding.
  • Marine Mammal Commission. $5 million.

I can see where some of these programs could be unnecessary and their elimination would help the deficit but only very slightly.

Keep in mind these programs will be eliminated this does not include any deep cuts of other programs such as Medicare or Social Security….

But you will noticed that the most wasteful of agencies are exempt….especially the War Department which never suffers from cuts and is awarded money that it did not ask for on many occasions…

This is just an overview of the programs on the chopping block…..of course this could change as Congress negotiates before it goes up for a vote.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Spending Bill Theatrics

The clock was ticking ever so close to a shutdown when like magic (sarcasm) a deal was found and the shutdown was averted.  (Go figure)

The Senate passed a $1.2 trillion package of spending bills in the early morning hours Saturday, a long overdue action nearly six months into the budget year that will push any threats of a government shutdown to the fall. The vote was 74-24, per the AP. President Biden signed the legislation into law hours later, acknowledging that it won’t please everyone.

  • 11th-hour save: The deal came after funding had expired for the agencies at midnight, but the White House sent out a notice shortly after the deadline announcing the Office of Management and Budget had ceased shutdown preparations because there was a high degree of confidence that Congress would pass the legislation and the president would sign it on Saturday.
  • Details: While Congress has already approved money for Veterans Affairs, Interior, Agriculture and other agencies, the bill approved this week is much larger, providing funding for the Defense, Homeland Security, and State departments, as well as other aspects of general government. The House passed the bill Friday morning by a vote of 286-134, narrowly gaining the two-thirds majority needed for approval. More than 70% of the money would go to defense.
  • Tensions: Prospects for a short-term government shutdown had appeared to grow Friday evening after Republicans and Democrats battled over proposed amendments to the bill. Any successful amendments to the bill would have sent the legislation back to the House, which had already left town for a two-week recess.
  • Breakthrough: Shortly before midnight, however, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced, “It’s been a very long and difficult day, but we have just reached an agreement to complete the job of funding the government.” He added, “It is good for the country that we have reached this bipartisan deal. It wasn’t easy, but tonight our persistence has been worth it.”
  • GOP strife: The vote breakdown showed 101 Republicans voting for the bill and 112 voting against it. Meanwhile, 185 Democrats voted for the bill and 22 against. The vote tally in the House reflected anger among Republicans over the content of the package and the speed with which it was brought to a vote. In a sign of conservative frustration, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., initiated an effort to oust Johnson as the House began the vote, but she held off on further action until the House returns in two weeks.
  • Biden’s take: “This agreement represents a compromise, which means neither side got everything it wanted,” the president said in a statement, per the AP. “But it rejects extreme cuts from House Republicans and expands access to child care, invests in cancer research, funds mental health and substance use care, advances American leadership abroad, and provides resources to secure the border.”

The vote has the House all a tether….MTG has opened that very large mouth yet again…..

The U.S. House of Representatives started a two-week recess on Friday, but not before a series of events that provoked fresh declarations of what has become a familiar phrase over the past few years: “Republicans in disarray.”

Meanwhile, far-right Republicans like Texas Congressman Chip Roy have made comments like, “Everyone that I know and trust about the border, about overall spending, see it as a complete and total failure and a capitulation by Republicans. And leadership worked the deal, so it’s on leadership.”

Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) not only opposed the package but also filed a motion to vacate, hoping to remove House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.)—which would only require a simple majority if it came up for a vote.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/republican-house-speaker

Will we have yet another new Speaker of the House?

I love this stuff!

A prime example the games and the waste of time and energy that the Congress has become.

Can we please have some sanity in the Congress for a change?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

No Drama This Time?

The drama I am referring to is the drama around the coming fight over funding the government. For the last few years there has been an endless theater over spending. But a move, that surprised me, the new Speaker has sent a bill to the Senate to try and avoid the drama around a possible shutdown.

The House passed a $460 billion package of spending bills Wednesday that would keep money flowing to key federal agencies through the remainder of the budget year. The Senate is expected to take up the legislation and send it to President Biden before a midnight Friday shutdown deadline, the AP reports. Lawmakers are negotiating a second package of six bills, including defense, in an effort to have all agencies fully funded before a March 22 deadline. In the end, total discretionary spending set by Congress is expected to come in at about $1.66 trillion for the entire year.

A significant number of House Republicans have lined up in opposition to the spending packages, forcing Republican Speaker Mike Johnson to use an expedited process to bring the bill up for a vote. That process requires two-thirds of the House to vote for the measure for it to pass. The House passed the measure by a vote of 339-85. The nondefense spending in this year’s bills is relatively flat compared to the previous year’s. Supporters say keeping that spending below the rate of inflation is tantamount to a cut, forcing agencies to be more frugal and focus manpower on top priorities. Johnson cited a 10% cut to the Environmental Protection Agency, a 7% cut to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and a 6% cut to the FBI.

But many GOP lawmakers wanted steeper cuts. The House Freedom Caucus urged Republicans to vote against the first spending package and oppose the second one being negotiated. “Despite giving Democrats higher spending levels, the omnibus text released so far punts on nearly every single Republican policy priority,” the group said. Johnson countered that Republicans have just a two-vote majority in the House, while Democrats control the Senate and White House. “We have to be realistic about what we’re able to achieve,” Johnson said. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the Senate would approve the legislation “with time to spare” ahead of Friday’s deadline, per the New York Times.

On the way to the Senate….will the Senate add to the drama or will this be a whitewash and pass?

Is this a new era?

Or are we just waiting for the next shoe to drop?

But for those that want some drama there is always the State of the Union speech which Biden will deliver tonight.  (This ought to be a chuckle)

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Ever Hear Of The Truman Committee?

Basically it was a good idea to draw in the massive defense spending….to make it more accountable and responsible….

I have been railing about the amount of money that is thrown at the Pentagon….the massive profits of a few huge industry with a few players.

Then I recall something from our distant past that makes good sense.

On February 10, 1941, a relatively unknown senator, Democrat Harry S. Truman of Missouri, rose on the Senate floor to deliver a speech that would forever change his destiny. Though the United States officially remained “neutral” to the war raging in Europe, the German invasion and occupation of France and the Low Countries in 1940 prompted action by the U.S. government. President Franklin Roosevelt requested, and Congress hastily appropriated, more than $10.5 billion to bolster national defense buildup. A former small business owner, Truman cautioned against awarding defense contracts in a way that “make[s] the big men bigger and let[s] the little men go out of business or starve to death.” He advised against distributing contracts “on the basis of friendship or political affiliation.” Championing legislative oversight, Truman proposed an “investigation of the national defense program and the handling of contracts.”

This became known as the ‘Truman Committee’….

I bring this up because someone in Congress has floated the idea of a ‘Truman Committee’ to be reestablished….

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders has a novel way to stop military-industrial complex profiteers from “bilking the American people”—and it’s actually over 80 years old.

In an article published Tuesday in The Atlantic, Sanders (I-Vt.) called for a revived Truman Committee—a World War II-era bipartisan congressional panel “designed to rein in defense contractors, closely oversee military contracts, and take back excessive payments.”

“America’s national priorities are badly misplaced,” the senator asserted. “Our country spends, with almost no debate, nearly $1 trillion a year on the military while at the same time ignoring massive problems at home. We apparently have unlimited amounts of money for nuclear weapons, fighter planes, bombs, and tanks. But somehow we can’t summon the resources to provide healthcare for all, childcare, affordable housing, and other basic needs.

“The United States remains the world’s dominant military power,” the senator continued. “Alone, we account for roughly 40% of global military spending; the U.S. spends more on its military than the next 10 countries combined, most of whom are allies. Last year, we spent more than three times what China spent on its military.”

Sanders noted that nearly half of the approximately $900 billion the U.S. will allocate for military spending this year “will go to a handful of huge defense contractors enjoying immense profits,” with many weapons companies profiting handsomely off sales to Ukraine, which is struggling to repel a two-year Russian invasion.

In what Sanders called a “particularly egregious example” of war profiteering, RTX Corporation—formerly Raytheon—has increased the price of its Stinger shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles by 600% to $400,000 since the early 1990s.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/sanders-military-spending-2667378533

It amazes me that Americans will ignore this  situation but will fly off the handle when some woman in Bumfuk, Indiana gets $300 extra in her EBT card.

I think Bernie has a helluva idea….these parasites need to be investigated and punished…

But the industry has hundreds of lobbyists to spread the cash around to see that any oversight is squashed.

While Bernie has a good idea….money will decide the idea’s fate.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

 

The Shutdown Two-Step!

Here we go again!

The political dance.

Remember just a couple of months ago we were holding our breath waiting to see if the idiots in Congress would allow a shutdown or do the right thing and keep the government working.

And as usual the game came down to the last minute before a deal was announced to keep the government up and running.

Well sports fans if you exhaled at the success then may had better take a deep breath….

Prepare to hear three words a lot this week in regard to DC news: “looming government shutdown.”

  • Two deadlines: Around 20% of government funding expires at midnight Friday unless the two sides strike a deal, with services including food stamps and housing assistance at risk, reports the Washington Post. A shutdown involving the remaining 80% could come the following week, with the deadline there on March 9.
  • Impasse: It’s “all about House Republicans,” particularly hardliners, who are pressuring Speaker Mike Johnson to “string out this fight as long as possible in order to trigger automatic spending cuts,” in the assessment of Punchbowl News, which digs deep into the nitty gritty of negotiations. House Republicans also are making policy demands on issues including abortion, immigration, and LGBTQ rights, per the Post.
  • Busy week: The Senate is back Monday and the House on Wednesday, and hoped-for deals expected over the weekend never materialized, reports the Hill. President Biden will meet with the top four congressional leaders—Johnson, House Minority Leader Hakim Jeffries, and Sens. Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell—at the White House on Tuesday, per the AP.
  • One big problem: Biden and Johnson “have virtually no relationship,” as an analysis at Politico explores. They rarely talk and barely know each other, and this chasm is contributing to the DC stalemates, according to the story.

By this time the threat means little of to us peasants….we are numb to these accusations and threats and manure slinging.

Even if it shutdown we will not remember it come September….out attention span is very short.

But if you want to know about these things…..this game that the idiots play (oh BTW Congress still gets paid during a shutdown)….will just be headline fodder and then be gone…but if you want to know then read on….

https://usafacts.org/articles/everything-you-need-to-know-about-a-government-shutdown/

Not to worry the Sun will still come up Tomorrow.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–16Jan24

Anybody that follows politics knows the GOP truly hates any of our safety programs….all social benefits is always on the drawing board for cuts.

In the past there have some really comical words that have fallen out of the mouths of Repubs to try and justify the ending of social programs….but recently the idiot from Florida, Gaetz, made a statement that I truly found hilarious if it were not so blatantly anti human.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) said Monday that he wants “deeper cuts” to the Department of Health and Human Services to “save the American people.”

Debt Ceiling–In Case You Want To Know

A deal has been made between Biden and the House GOP….I would like for the people, my readers, that would like to know more beyond the god awful deal that was finally settled upon….

Here is the takeaways and the answers to most questions…..

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/key-questions-takeaways-debt-ceiling-deal/story

Personally this article is just the MSM trying to turn chicken manure into sirloin…..

If you do not like ABC then maybe this will be more favorable to your thinking…..

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/whats-in-and-whats-out-of-the-debt-ceiling-deal-between-biden-and-mccarthy

I still do not see where the American people made out in this deal…..basically it is to protect the markets and give cover for their re-election……

An agreement has been reached, at least in principle, by President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on raising the nation’s debt limit, and now the final OK is in Congress’ hands. Both progressive Democrats and ultra-conservatives are already pushing back on the deal, and if Biden and McCarthy can’t convince members of their own parties to vote for it by a June 5 deadline, a default looms. Negotiators are scrambling to finalize the bill’s details, and the takes are starting to trickle in. Some thoughts on what this agreement could mean:

  • View on proposed spending cuts: Economists tell the New York Times they don’t think those “modest” cuts will seriously shake up a “well-positioned” economy that should be able to absorb them. “The most important impact is the stability that comes with having a deal,” Ben Harris, a former deputy Treasury secretary, tells the paper. “Markets can function knowing that we don’t have a cataclysmic debt ceiling crisis looming.”
  • A Balanced deal, but…: The editorial board at the Washington Post notes that both the GOP and Dems got “some of what they wanted,” and that “most Americans will probably approve” of the “sensible” basics of the deal. The panel argues, however, that the agreement sets a “dangerous precedent,” as “House Republicans have now used the debt limit twice to create a hostage-like situation that brings the nation close to an unthinkable default.” The board’s recommendation: “The debt limit itself needs to be scrapped,” as it “no longer makes any sense.”
  • “Wrinkles and curveballs”: Politico outlines the details that make “even more clear what kinds of trade-offs [Biden] and McCarthy had to accept in ways that are already angering members of the parties’ bases”—including a thumbs-up for an Appalachian gas pipeline promoted by Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin.
  • Cautious optimism from investors: They note the debt deal could “boost overall appetite for risk” in the stock market, while also boosting some of the “unloved corners,” including cyclical stocks, defense stocks, and energy stocks, per Reuters. “The hope is that the approval of this tentative deal will help underpin the broader market and not just the handful of big tech names that have kept the market well in positive territory,” Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist at LPL Financial, says.
  • Temporary relief? A second piece in Reuters takes the stance that any market relief that emerges out of the deal will only be a “short-lived sugar high.” The outlet notes that’s because once the agreement is struck, it’s believed the US Treasury will rapidly issue nearly $1.1 trillion in Treasury bills—a move that would “effectively suck a bunch of liquidity out of the marketplace” and create “an environment where markets are crash prone,” experts say.
  • “Fiscal hangover”: Investors.com similarly warns that “a fiscal hangover is just beginning,” and that “we’re about to get Fed quantitative tightening on steroids,” with a possible stock market dip and recession around the corner.
  • The art of compromise: Writing for CNN, Dean Obeidallah notes that making concessions is part of the game, and for fellow Democrats who don’t like the agreement, he has some advice. “There is an easy fix: Win back control of the House in 2024—while retaining the Senate and White House—and they can roll back any parts of the deal they find objectionable,” he writes.

Not to worry we will play this same game in a couple of years….just another way to do nothing while appearing to do something.

All this is just so much theater of the absurd…..and it is pathetic.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Pentagon Gets More

Recently SecDef demanded that Congress vote on giving the Pentagon their blood money….

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Monday urged lawmakers to pass a full-year budget for his department as soon as possible, warning that another short-term spending extension could imperil military readiness and family support efforts.

“If the [current budget extension] extends beyond December, we may be forced to reduce accessions or permanent change of station moves, impairing our ability to meet our missions and causing unnecessary disruption to our families and our ability to recruit personnel,” Austin wrote in a letter to House and Senate leaders.

“It is impairing our ability to hire the people we need to accelerate our efforts to eradicate sexual assault and prevent suicide. [It] is delaying needed investments in military infrastructure, including barracks and child care centers.”

Congress approved a short-term budget extension in September after lawmakers failed to agree upon a full-year spending plan by the start of the new fiscal year, Oct. 1. That temporary extension is set to run out on Dec. 16.

https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2022/11/28/secdef-tells-congress-to-get-a-military-budget-done-already/

But not to worry the Pentagon gets what it wants and even more…..

The House and Senate have agreed to increase the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) by $45 billion more than President Biden requested, POLITICO reported on Wednesday.

The $45 billion increase was agreed on by the House and Senate Armed Service committees, but other details of the NDAA are still being finalized. The increase the two panels agreed on brings the bill to $847 billion.

Including programs outside of the jurisdiction of House and Senate Armed Service committees, the NDAA will reach $858 billion.

Once finalized, it will be the second year in a row that Congress significantly increases President Biden’s requested budget. Last year, the president asked for $753 billion but was granted an NDAA worth about $778 billion.

The POLITICO report said that the chairs of the Senate and House Armed Services committees have largely agreed on the bill and have handed it off to congressional leadership.

Congress is looking to get the NDAA on the House floor for a vote as early as next week. Once approved by the House it will go to the Senate and then would head to President Biden’s desk for his signature.

Over the past few months, lawmakers have been trying to tack on amendments to the spending bill that would give Taiwan unprecedented military aid, but the contents and amendments included in the NDAA aren’t yet clear.

One plan reported by The Washington Post would give Taiwan $3 billion annually for at least five years. If the Taiwan aid isn’t included in the NDAA, the White House could ask Congress to authorize the Taiwan aid as emergency funds, which is what has been done for Ukraine.

(antiwar.com)

See how good it is to bribe Congress?

Think about it…..almost a trillion dollars for war…..and pennies for the infrastructure and such.

People are idiots!….they allow this to continue.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–14Sep21

Now that the US has pulled out of Afghanistan…there should be funds that will not be needed to prolong that war any further ….if you thought that then you would be mistaken…..

House Armed Services Committee voted to increase President Biden’s military budget for 2022 by almost $24 billion.

The effort was led by Republicans who don’t think Biden’s $753 billion request is enough to face China and Russia. The panel passed the $23.9 billion increase in a vote of 42 to 17, with 14 Democrats voting in favor.

In July, the Senate Armed Services Committee passed a similar increase of $25 billion that also had bipartisan support. The budget will ultimately be decided by appropriations bills, but the fact that both House and Senate panels passed such measures means the increase has a good chance of passing.

Biden’s $753 billion budget request breaks down into two categories: $715 billion for the Pentagon and $38 billion for military-related spending for other agencies, such as the Energy Department’s nuclear weapons programs. The panel’s increase would apply to the Pentagon’s share, bringing its total budget to about $740 billion and overall military spending to a whopping $778 billion.

(antiwar.com)

Regardless the defense industry will get their pound of taxpayer flesh….

A look at how this worked in Afghanistan….

Weapons firms and defense contractors consume over half of the Pentagon’s $740 billion budget and the end of the 20-year war in Afghanistan poses a threat for their share-holders and executives. 

That concern was laid bare in a new investigative report by In These Times’ Sarah Lazare on CACI International, a Pentagon contractor currently two years into a five-year $907 million contract to provide “intelligence operations and analytics support” for the U.S. Army in Afghanistan. CACI’s CEO warned investors in an August 12 earnings call, “we have about a 2 percent headwind coming into FY 2022 because of Afghanistan,” referring to a negative impact on profits from the withdrawal.

Lazare points out that CACI is a corporate sponsor of the Institute for Study of War, a hawkish think tank whose experts argued in an August 20 paper that “Russia, China, Iran, and Turkey are weighing how to take advantage of the United States’ hurried withdrawal.” ISW’s board chair, Jack Keane, a former General Dynamics board member and current chairman of Humvee manufacturer AM General, has been making the rounds of Fox News shows, blasting the Biden administration’s decision to withdraw from Afghanistan.

ISW has not disclosed the financial conflict of interest between its criticisms of Biden’s withdrawal and its corporate sponsor’s financial ties to the U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan.  Fox News does not disclose Keane’s role as chairman of a Pentagon contractor or ISW’s funding from defense contractors including CACI and General Dynamics.

How the defense industry helped prolong the war in Afghanistan

As Yogi once said…”It ain’t over ’til it’s over”

New enemies will magical appear and the funds will follow the BS.

We cannot depend on Dems for sanity in defense spending for they are owned as much as the GOP by defense industry….

By a 42-17 vote on Wednesday, 14 Democrats joined with Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee to add nearly $25 billion to the 2022 defense budget, Politico’s Connor O’Brien reported. That brings the total in Pentagon spending to $740 billion, up from the $715 billion that had been requested by the White House.

For 20 years this country pissed away trillions on war….

Brown University’s Costs of War Project released a new report Monday detailing post-9/11 spending by the Pentagon. The study found that of the over $14 trillion spent by the Pentagon since the start of the war in Afghanistan, one-third to one-half went to private military contractors.

The report, authored by William Hartung of the Center for International Policy, said $4.4 trillion of the total spending went towards weapons procurement and research and development, a category that directly benefits corporate military contractors. Private contractors are also paid through other funds, like operations and maintenance, but those numbers are harder to determine.

Out of the $4.4 trillion, the top five US weapons makers — Lockheed Martin, Boeing, General Dynamics, Raytheon, and Northrop Grumman — received $2.2 trillion, almost half. To put these huge numbers into perspective, the report pointed out that in the 2020 fiscal year, Lockheed Martin received $75 billion in Pentagon contracts, compared to the combined $44 billion budget for the State Department and USAID that same year.

Pentagon Paid the Arms Industry at Least $4.4 Trillion Since 9/11

They, Dems, can cooperate with the GOP on war but not on the needs of the people of this country.

Can you now see why I have no use for Dems….they are worthless and gutless.

I still hold that we need new thinking in our foreign policy apparatus.

Watch This Blog!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Time To Re-Think The Pentagon Budget

In twenty years we have spent trillions on unnecessary wars…..and can we state without qualification that we are a safer nation because of them?

The pandemic we are now fighting has shown us that we need to re-think war and focus on the survival of this country.

The inadequate response of both the federal and state governments to the Covid-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on the United States, creating what could only be called a national security crisis. More than 190,000 Americans are dead, approximately half of them people of color. Yelp data show that more than 132,000 businesses have already closed and census data suggest that, thanks to lost wages, nearly 17% of Americans with children can’t afford to feed them enough food.

In this same period, a number of defense contractors have been doing remarkably well. Lockheed Martin, the Pentagon’s top contractor, reported that, compared to 2019, its earnings are actually up—yes, up! The company’s success led the financial magazine Barron’s to call it a “pandemic star.” And those profits are only likely to grow, given the Trump administration’s recent approval of a 10-year deal to sell $62 billion worth of its F-16s to Taiwan.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/14/national-insecurity-and-pentagon-budget

Congress needs to step up and do the hard lifting since no one else will….but they are a worthless, lazy bunch and I feel they will do what high dollar donors want…not what is best for the nation.

More Americans have now died from COVID-19 than from the wars in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan combined. Yet the United States is poised to continue spending more money on the Pentagon than the next 10 countries combined, with some 1 million troops deployed in about 175 countries. In other words, there’s no end in sight for our forever wars.

Monday marked the 19th anniversary of the vote to pass the post-9/11 Authorization for Use of Military Force, or AUMF, a blank check to deploy U.S. military personnel anywhere in the world in the name of going after terrorists. Our country’s response to that attack has had unintended and tragic consequences: war profiteering by military contractors, traumatic impact to our soldiers, and massive numbers of refugees and civilian casualties around the world.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/15/its-time-repeal-presidents-license-endless-war

This pandemic has shown the nation just how inadequate our social skills are….we can go fight wars without end but we are dumb-founded by a virus.

Maybe now is the right time to start putting the nation and its people first…and I do not mean another round of stim cash that only benefits those that do not need the stim.

Wall Street wants more and more cash…..

When Wall Street receives a major boost from the US Federal Reserve it can always be relied upon to come back and demand more. This phenomenon, one could say a law of political economy, has been on display again this week.

On Wednesday, the central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) set out its new framework for monetary policy. It committed itself to maintaining interest rates at near zero levels, for as far as the eye can see. It would also maintain its purchases of financial assets, at least to the tune of $120 billion a month—nearly $1.5 trillion a year—and intervene even more aggressively should there be a return of financial turbulence.

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/09/19/wall-s19.html

Time for this nation to once again become a single entity and not the wandering bands of tribes that spend all their energy sniping at each other.

Pay Attention!  Your life is depending on it!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”