Wednesday, May 23, 2012

$1 Trillion a Year for War and "Security"?


Americans Pay $1 Trillion a Year for War and 'Security' - Why? By Chris Hellman, Mattea Kramer, TomDispatch 23 May 12

 [excerpted] ...In fact, with projected cuts added in, the national security budget in fiscal 2013 will be nearly $1 trillion — a staggering enough sum that it’s worth taking a walk through the maze of the national security budget to see just where that money’s lodged.

If you’ve heard a number for how much the U.S. spends on the military, it’s probably in the neighborhood of $530 billion. That’s the Pentagon’s base budget for fiscal 2013, and represents a 2.5% cut from 2012. But that $530 billion is merely the beginning of what the U.S. spends on national security. Let’s dig a little deeper.

The Pentagon’s base budget doesn’t include war funding, which in recent years has been well over $100 billion. With U.S. troops withdrawn from Iraq and troop levels falling in Afghanistan, you might think that war funding would be plummeting as well.  In fact, it will drop to a mere $88 billion in fiscal 2013. By way of comparison, the federal government will spend around $64 billion on education that same year...."



read the entire article here: http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175545/tomgram%3A_hellman_and_kramer%2C_how_much_does_washington_spend_on_%22defense%22/

2 comments:

  1. The GE-dominated culture running American government is a powerful force. Domestic economics be damned because guns have better profits than butter.

    Picture a country that has 7% of the world's population trying to exert influence in virtually every country in the world. Massive navy, air force, and a secret nuclear weapons program still churning out weapons long after the threat of global nuclear war had peaked.

    Charity begins at home, but the US government would rather pursue elusive enemies in faraway lands like there is a global world war to be won. There is no global war, just the Ugly American syndrome of protecting the financial interests of the big US businesses spread around the world.

    Sorely needed domestic tax dollars that would go to health and educatIon instead buys ill will in countries where we prolong civil wars.

    As in Brave New World, enemies become friends and friends become enemies at the whim of Big Brother. Corruption by special interests makes public service a license to become a quick millionaire with a cushy pension.

    While the average Joe Six Pack works 40 years for a $1200 a month Social Security check, the national legislators are far better taken care of under their retirement plan, being fully vested after only 5 years of public service. Ron Paul has refused to participate in the Congressional pension plan, labelling it "immoral".

    The Greek crisis should be a lesson for countries to wake up, but instead countries like America continue the heedless path to financial ruin. Prosperity is not created by printing worthless money...it is a direct offshoot of producing desirable life-sustaining commodities.

    America has lost its way in what made it the Sleeping Giant so feared by the Japanese military in 1941. After nearly 200 years of global dominance the American dynasty has run its course. The country that landed humans on the moon is still powerful, but no longer solvent. Corruption at the government level has robbed America of the title of global superpower. Make way for China as the next global cop on the block and next visitors to the moon. Americans have had a long ride to the top, but it will be bumpy on the way down.

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.