Editorial: Smart thinking, not money, is real answer

[unhappycamper]

Editorial: Smart thinking, not money, is real answer

The final budget of any U.S. administration draws intense scrutiny, and the proposed 2009 spending plan is no exception.

Many industry watchers see the Bush administration’s request, submitted to Congress on Feb. 4, as evidence of a commitment to boost military spending, putting the lie once again to annual gloomy predictions of an impending downturn.

But critics say spending is out of control. “Emergency” supplemental funding measures, intended to cover unexpected war costs, are being misused to buy transports and other hardware that should be in the Defense Department’s baseline budget.

The $515.4 billion base budget request is $36 billion more than the Pentagon received in 2008. In addition, there’s $70 billion in supplemental funding for war costs, hardware and services. Together, this funds almost every important strategic and tactical modernization effort.

The total pays for more soldiers and Marines, new mine-protected vehicles, new warships such as the CVN-21 aircraft carrier, new tankers and rescue helicopters for the Air Force, key space programs, and the multinational Joint Strike Fighter program.


Rest of whining article at: http://www.armytimes.com/community/opinion/army_editorial_answer_080225/



uhc comment: If 3/4 of a trillion dollars is not enough to buy new toys, pay for health care, and keep the occupation going, perhaps we need to rethink why we are spending this many dollars on 'defense'.