Obama to cut 2010 Military Budget by 10+%
After all the fuss concerning HR-01, The Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the amount of pork, social welfare spending, and creation of new departments, one might very easily wonder; how are we going to pay for this? Where is the money coming from?
According to Fox News:
The Obama administration has asked the military's Joint Chiefs of Staff to cut the Pentagon's budget request for the fiscal year 2010 by more than 10 percent -- about $55 billion -- a senior U.S. defense official tells FOX News.
Last year's defense budget was $512 billion. Service chiefs and planners will be spending the weekend "burning the midnight oil" looking at ways to cut the budget -- looking especially at weapons programs, the defense official said.
Some overall budget figures are expected to be announced Monday.
Obama met Friday at the White House with a small group of military advisers, including Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman, and Gen. Jim Jones, National Security Council chairman.
This is occurring when the administration wants to increase our presence in Afghanistan. Cutting $55 billion is about the costs of Obamas energy plan:
*Energy investments ($58 billion):
- $32 billion funding for an electric smart grid
- $20 billion for renewable energy tax cuts
- $6 billion for weatherizing modest-income homes.
Or is it half the cost of his increased social welfare spending?
* Welfare/unemployment ($102 billion):
- $43 billion for unemployment benefits and job training,
- $39 billion for health insurance and Medicaid,
- $20 billion for food stamps
The Constitution grants numerous powers to Congress. These include the powers to levy and collect taxes, provide for common defense and promote the pursuit of liberty; to coin money and regulate its value; provide for punishment for counterfeiting; establish post offices and roads, promote progress of science, create courts inferior to the Supreme Court, define and punish piracies and felonies, declare war, raise and support armies, provide and maintain a navy, make rules for the regulation of land and naval forces, provide for, arm, and discipline the militia, exercise exclusive legislation in the District of Columbia, and make laws necessary and proper to execute the powers of Congress. This is per Article One of the US Constitution.
Where is the justification for the majority of the Stimulus Act? How can the Congress justify cutting the funding for one of the few items it IS responsible for?
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"How can the Congress justify cutting the funding for one of the few items it IS responsible for?"
'They' don't give a damn, big guy. I take that back...'They' will find a way to pocket it, say "campaign funds", in the form of grease to constituents.
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