Levin leads charge on defense bill

[struggle4progress]

Monday, July 09, 2007
Senator will push again for quick Iraq troop withdrawal as debate heats up this week.
Gordon Trowbridge / Detroit News Washington Bureau

~snip~ The Senate, perhaps as early as today, will take up its version of the 2008 defense authorization bill: a 430-page legislative monster that sets the stage for more than $600 billion in defense spending. The debate takes on renewed intensity, as several key Republicans recently recanted or softened their support for the war.

As chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, the defense bill is Levin's baby for the first time. He became committee chairman this year, when Democrats took control of Congress.

"Carl Levin plays a major role in deciding how half a trillion dollars in defense money is spent," said Loren Thompson, a defense analyst with the Virginia-based Lexington Institute, a conservative think tank. "It's of tremendous significance."

The bill gives Levin an outsized voice in nearly every aspect of Pentagon operations, from how much troops are paid to whether the nation should build a new type of nuclear warhead. That means several potential battles with the Bush administration. None is bigger than the debate over the Iraq war. Levin plans to once again introduce his preferred solution to the conflict -- a timetable for troop withdrawals beginning in four months -- this time as an amendment to the authorization bill. ~snip~

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070709/POLITICS/707090334/1022

[still_one]

1. You can thank Russ Feingold for this. Levin is just a Johnny come lately

Just a few weeks ago he voted for the Feingold/Reid bill which asked the same thing

Frickn' hypocrite. However, he is doing the right thing now, so I will bite my tounge until after 2008

[Hippo_Tron]

2. Levin has the potential to give the Bush Administration headaches until they are out of office

I've lowered my expectations to the point where I know the timetable won't pass. I will be pissed if Levin doesn't make the Bush Administration sacrifice like hell to get a bill with no timetable.

[unhappycamper]

3. Here's a few ideas for Carl:

1. Make a slight reduction to the defense budget. Say to $250 billion or so. Use the savings on social programs.

2. Drop the star wars missile defense program.

3. Drop the next generation of nukes program.

4. Defund half of the 737 military bases around the world.

5. Stay out of Iran.

6. Get us the fuck out of Iraq NOW!!!!

7. Fully fund all Veterans services.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

5. Actually, I like your ideas better than mine

with the added provision that he should keep presenting bills to that effect till the Bush administration is worn down.

[unhappycamper]

6. Thank you.

If If the dems put together a bill that is acceptable to "We the People", keep sending it back until * issues a signing statement or accepts it.

[Strawman]

8. Yes!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

4. Troop withdrawals within FOUR MONTHS?

How many more Americans and Iraqis die in vain in that time period? What a wussy approach to stopping WAR CRIMES.

I've got advice for you, Carl:

Be bold. Propose no more money for additional troops NOW. No more money for civilian contractors NOW. Construction of those 14 military bases halted NOW. No money for invading Iran.

Present the boldest, sassiest bill you can come up with, and keep presenting it every week with as much fanfare as possible, and then have the anti-war Dems go on TV in their home states and talk about how Bush is dragging this war out.

[Strawman]

7. And the $600 billion is a forgone conclusion

Six hundred billion. http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,660193030,00.html">More than every other nation combined. Factoring in all military related spedning, it'll be about http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2007/06/06/financing_the_imperial_armed_forces.php"> $1 trillion this year.

There are alot of people in Levin's home state that could use the kind of help a chunk of that money could buy alot more than defense contractors. Why aren't more people demanding that be put "on the table?"

[Strawman]

9. My letter to Senator Levin

Dear Senator Levin, Today's Detroit News carried an article that mentioned your intention to link a timetable for troop withdrawls from Iraq to the approval of the defense budget. While I am encouraged by your effort to use the leverage of the appropriations process to bring our troops home safely from a misguided war that you were wise enough to vote against authorizing, I must say that I am a bit distressed about what I did not see reported in this article. Defense appropriations for FY 2008 are estimated to be $600 billion, more than every other nation combined. When you add in other components of the national security state: homeland security, veterans benefits intelligence spending, Robert Dreyfus estimates that we will spend over $1 trillion on national security this year. Obviously, we need to spend money on all of these things, and some may in fact be underfunded in the status quo (e.g. veterans' benefits, soldiers' pay). Still, $1 trillion is an absurd number at face value. I want to know what, if anything, you intend to do to bring this number under control moving forward? Think about what we could do for people who are hurting, right here in your home state, with a just a quarter of that money we're going to spend on the military this year. And I'm not talking about funneling some more defense projects/jobs to Michigan. It's not enough to take our cut of the military-industrial behemoth. We ought to change our national priorities to those that Democrats, at their best, have stood for: prividing social security (broadly understood) to working class and middle class Americans who face increased financial risk and anxiety as a result of the economic changes that have taken place over the last 30 years. We need an end to war in Iraq now, and it's way past time that we saw a peace dividend on the horizon.