Why do Republicans ask for more money for defense than the Pentagon asks for?

[texshelters]

Republicans think that the Pentagon has "put us in peril, and we at D.R.O.N.E. stand our ground against your decision to only ask for $554 billion dollars in this year’s defense budget. Thus, our Republican and Democratic allies in the House of Representatives have appropriated $642 billion for defense, an increase of almost 16% from what you asked for..."

Read More of my post here:
http://texshelters.hubpages.com/hub/The-Pentagon-Doesnt-Ask-for-Enough-Money?done

PTxS

[hobbit709]

1. Payoff to their contributors.

[Fumesucker]

2. Plus "Strong on Defense!1!!!1".. n/t

[Rex]

3. General contractors.

Probably family and friends.

[jp11]

4. It's a pissing contest.

Who can piss away more money by showing how strong and tough they are on defense by spending the nation's wealth on more weapons that brings the money back to their pockets.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

5. Their underlying theory

Democrats are weak on defense.
Democrats caved in during the Bush era, out of fear that they would be called weak on defense.
(that is too true unfortunately)
Democrats have no idea what our needs are on defense.
Democrats pick Military leaders who are . . . democrats. See above.
The more they funnel into defense, the more they can strut around like the rooster who fucked three chickens that morning, without ever having served or having family that served in the military.
The more they can funnel into D industry, the more they can get in campaign funds.

[ljm2002]

6. Does the term "pork barrel spending" ring a bell?

Every politician in D.C. likes to bring money back to their home district, and the military-industrial complex has been brilliant in how they made sure that the largesse is spread around in districts all across this great land. It ensures that few politicians will campaign against military spending, as it would mean less money and less jobs for their own districts.

It is really quite disheartening to see this destructive political logic play out the same way year after year.

[Uben]

7. They're just rounding it out to the nearest pallet of $100 bills.....

......that makes it easier to keep up with.......wait!

[Solomon]

8. The Pentagon is one of the things they use to re-distribute wealth.