Congress Is Nearing Approval of Record Pentagon Spending

[kysrsoze]

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/12/politics/12DEFE.html

WASHINGTON, Nov. 11 — After agreeing to drop a provision requiring many military contracts to go to American companies, Congress is on the verge of passing a record authorization bill to let the Pentagon spend more than $400 billion for the next year.

The bill, approved by the House last week and scheduled to be passed by the Senate as early as Wednesday, resolves a host of issues that have divided Republicans on military-related committees, like a multibillion-dollar lease of tanker jets from Boeing and a program to pay other countries to destroy chemical and nuclear weapons.

A main issue was the insistence of House Republicans that many costly contracts go primarily to American suppliers. The Bush administration and several American allies strongly opposed that provision, which would have affected many purchases for military operations in Iraq. Senate Republicans succeeded in removing it in a conference committee. The provision now encourages contractors to use American-made equipment, but does not require it.

"It's a balanced compromise which shows our support for a strong U.S. industrial base without undermining our important defense-cooperation relationships with our allies," said Senator John W. Warner, the Virginia Republican who is chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

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Hmmm....Sense a connection there?

[aeon flux]

1. We can reduce the defense budget by half

just by eliminating the waste and fraud that goes on with military spending. Doesn't make sense we're spending more on defense then we ever were during the Cold War. the opposite should be true.

The Defense Mafia needs excuse to maintain its racket post-Soviet Union.

[jpgray]

2. Hey aeon flux--welcome to DU!

Yes--the graft in the Pentagon budget is monstrous.

But more importantly, aeon flux was a cool cartoon.

:toast:

[aeon flux]

3. thanks

DU is a cool place to hang out and vent some anger!
was defense spending going down somewhat under Clinton?

[teryang]

4. This must be the Boeing relief bill

Why would the federal government lease aircraft? Do they get a tax deduction? It's is absurd and contrary to the public interest.

This Defense budget is bigger than at the height of the Vietnam war in real dollars. Yet, we can't even field and maintain a decent sized army. The regime has reached new heights of corruption.