Broke, huh? Pentagon to get $630 billion.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

Maybe congress could get the Pentagon to loan them some money for the "bailout".

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080924/ap_on_go_co/congress_spending_6

WASHINGTON - The House on Wednesday took up a $630 billion-plus spending bill awarding the Pentagon a record budget while giving generous help to U.S. automakers and victims of hurricanes and floods.

The year-end budget measure also would lift a quarter-century ban on oil drilling off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and is flying under the political radar compared with a hugely controversial White House plan to bail out Wall Street.

The bill is fueled by a need to keep the government running past the Oct. 1 start of the 2009 budget year. Until now, Democrats had mostly punted on the need to pass the 12 annual bills funding agency operating budgets, but the 357-page measure released late Tuesday — along with 752 pages of accompanying explanations and tables of previously secret earmarks by lawmakers — would close out about 60 percent of the budget work Congress must pass each year.

That includes $488 billion for the Pentagon, $40 billion for Homeland Security Department programs and $73 billion for veterans programs and military base construction projects.

The most significant decision — and a big win for Republicans in this politically charged election season — came as Democrats capitulated on the question of lifting the offshore drilling ban. And the Bush administration succeeded in blocking Democrats' efforts to extend unemployment insurance, increase food stamp payments and help states deal with shortfalls in their Medicaid budgets.

[originalpckelly]

1. Tisk, tisk Tierra_y_Libertad, don't you know we can't live...

without killing people?

:shrug:

[slipslidingaway]

2. K&MR n/t

[JDPriestly]

3. Thanks. You've hit the nail on the head.

The problem is that our military, which is very important, no doubt, takes too much of our GDP, too much of our wealth.

[crickets]

4. They always manage to find more money for WAR. -nt

:grr:

[redqueen]

5. Hah...

it'd take an act of Congress to pry one red cent from the MIC.

(ho ho!)

[Bigmack]

6. All those planes and ..

fast ships and big tanks and shit just cost too much.

Simple as that... we're broke, and we can't afford an Empire anymore. And the Repubs broke us. Who's weak on national security now.

[Winterblues]

7. Isn't that almost three times what it was under Clinton?

It seems Clinton's magnificent Military was able to walk right through Iraq without pause. The Magnificent remark was from many, many Republicans at the time.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

8. 1 little kick

[jmowreader]

9. I'm of mixed emotions on this

First, $488 billion is a SHITLOAD of fucking money.

Second, the military needs more than that even if the war ended tomorrow. Thanks to Fearless Leader, everything the military has is wore the fuck out from running flat out in the desert for many years.

But most important, I would much rather see the Pentagon get it than someone who became personally rich off commissions from selling ARMs on McMansions to people who couldn't afford to furnish them.