Senate Approves $401.3B Defense Bill

[sharonstone]

WASHINGTON - The Senate gave final approval Wednesday to a $401.3 billion defense bill that gives the Pentagon greater control over its civilian work force and eases environmental restrictions on the military.

The bill authorizing 2004 defense programs now goes to President Bush for his signature.

Democrats joined Republicans in the 95-3 vote, despite their objections to the broader Pentagon authority. They stressed the measure would provide new benefits to both active duty soldiers and veterans.

But the bill was opposed by Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., who said it "transfers vast, unchecked powers to the Defense Department while avoiding any break with the business-as-usual approach to increasing defense spending."


The bill is $1.5 billion more than the amount request by Bush and
about 2.2 percent more than Congress approved last year. It was approved by the House on Friday in a 362-40 vote
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/7241729.htm

[BeFree]

1. 43 outta 535

Less than 10 percent of our representatives have any balls. The rest of them, the other 492, are all lame ass people who are selling this country down the road to a violent ruin.

If our defense budget was only 100 billion, why we wouldn't be able to invade foreign countries, now would we? And sadly, most of our DU'ers will think all's hunky dory.

[FloridaPat]

2. This is where we're going folks with the idiot in the White House.

From the New York Times about the new defense budget: "The bill also lifts a decade-old ban on research into low-yield nuclear weapons".

Has anyone else noticed a trend. When Bush went after bin Ladin, he started setting up everything to use nuclear bombs instead of troops. He replaced everyone on the defense boards that didd'agree with his new policy. He is moving everything in the direction of low yield nuclear bombs to pulverize all those enemies we are getting. He wants to build a ton of low-yield bombs. This is a big disaster that may happen sooner than later. No troops. Lots of enemies. And mister idiot in the White House has to prove America is the greatest. Forget the draft - nuclear weapons. No problem trying to hide those dead US military bodies. No injuries. And no way to count the civilian dead - so no war crime accusations. He's been working on this for 2+ years and no one is noticing.