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No matter how divisive Washington can get, there’s always one thing lawmakers can agree on: more money for the military.
The Senate Armed Services Committee, a 26-member group divided equally between Republicans and Democrats, increased the price tag of President Joe Biden’s National Defense Authorization Act to $857.6 billion, a significant increase from Biden’s $813 billion proposal.
About $817.3 billion would go to the Pentagon and another $30 billion would go to the nuclear weapons program. About $10 billion would be earmarked for other military-related expenditures.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., issued a statement that said the $45 billion increase from Biden’s budget was needed because the earlier version “did not keep up with his inflation crisis.”
The additional funding will also go to Ukraine to replenish weapons sent into the fight against Russia. Senators did not increase the administration’s request for a 4.6 percent pay increase next year for military personnel, but it does allow the Pentagon to buy 68 F-35s, which is seven more than the Defense Department requested, Roll Call reported.
The report said the bill authorizes the Navy to purchase “eight battle-force ships it requested: two Arleigh Burke-class destroyers; two Virginia-class submarines; one Constellation-class frigate; one San Antonio-class amphibious ship; one John Lewis-class oiler; and one Navajo-class towing, salvage and rescue ship.”
TREND FORECAST: The Trends Journal has reported on the U.S.’s absurd investment into its military, with nothing to show for it other than spending trillions to kill millions and make the military-industrial and intelligence business gangs richer.
Gerald Celente has pointed out that the American military has not won a war since WWII and has been stacking up defeats, including the recent retreat from Afghanistan. (See “MILITARY SPENDING INCREASES AS ECONOMIES DECLINE,” “WARMONGERS INC: WHILE 61 PERCENT OF AMERICANS LIVE PAYCHECK TO PAYCHECK, CONGRESS SENDS $13.6 BILLION FOR UKRAINE WAR,” “WAR MACHINE MAKING BILLIONS” and “WAR CRIME GANG GETS RICHER.”)
House Armed Services Committee officials are expected to finalize their draft of the measure next week. House Democrats unveiled their own $762 billion defense spending plan for fiscal 2023. The Senate’s increases require congressional approval and its bill represents a 10 percent boost from 2022, which does not include supplemental aid for Ukraine.
“This is a demonstration of our commitment to our men and women in uniform and our willingness to compete, deter, and if necessary, defeat any adversaries who might threaten our American values and our way of life,” Oklahoma Sen. James M. Inhofe, the top Republican on the committee and the person the bill is named after, said.
TRENDPOST: Andrew Lautz, the director of Federal Policy for National Taxpayers Union, wrote in Responsible Statecraft that he is no expert on inflation, but “I’m not sure more F-35s and more Abrams tanks will help the U.S. military combat the effects of inflation.”
He said “inflation” could be a “trojan horse.”
“If this “inflation” adjustment is devoted to more F-35s, more tanks, more aircraft, and more ships—more of everything, not just higher costs for the goods DoD already needs or plans to procure—then readers should know that the “inflation” argument is a mere convenient excuse,” he wrote. “And when inflation abates, lawmakers will no doubt find another excuse for the next big defense budget increase.”
TRENDS FORECAST: Congress has never been more divided and disagreements seem to border on hatred from every major domestic issue… but among the only bills that get bipartisan support are for….more military spending!
Indeed, as we have reported, Democrats in both houses, even those who claim to be for peace, voted to send $40 billion to Ukraine last month to keep bloodying the killing fields.
Military spending will only continue to surge with new threats from China and Russia, and it will continue to cost millions of lives until there is a legitimate pro-peace leader.
Yet, there are minimal protests among Americans to end the foreign entanglements sapping economic resources of their declining, deep in $30 trillion nation of debt to further enriching the military/industrial/intelligence complex.