Senate Democrats approve half a trillion dollars for Pentagon, US spy agencies

[IndianaGreen]

Senate Democrats approve half a trillion dollars for Pentagon, US spy agencies

By Bill Van Auken
5 October 2007

In a succession of voice votes that were barely covered by the major media, the Democratic-led Senate has overwhelmingly approved approximately half a trillion dollars for the 2008 fiscal budgets funding the Pentagon’s war machine and global US intelligence operations.

The measures, which sailed through the Senate with virtually no opposition, underscore the real position of the Democratic leadership and its support for US militarism, the months of phony debate over the Iraq war notwithstanding.

<snip>

Added to the Pentagon budget bill Wednesday was an amendment—also approved by an overwhelming 95-to-1 vote, with not a single Democrat opposing it—providing an additional $3 billion to pay for the continued deployment of up to 6,000 US National Guard troops on the Mexican border. President Bush had threatened to veto funding for the militarization of border with Mexico when it had been included in the Homeland Security budget, and Republicans sought to transfer it to the bloated Pentagon funding bill to spare the White House the embarrassment of seeing the veto overridden. Democrats, for their part, were happy to spend a few billion more in order to appeal to anti-immigrant chauvinism.

<snip>

A further indication that the Democratic leadership has no intention of using its power of the purse to halt funding for the war came this week after Congressman David Obey, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, announced that he would keep the war spending bill in committee until the White House presented a plan to reduce troops deployments by January 2009. Obey also called for a war surcharge on income tax to pay for the occupation in Iraq.

The proposal drew a swift rebuke from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, seconded by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2007/oct2007/pent-o5.shtml