4/13 News Roundup & OT
Biden Wants to Spend More Than Trump to Maintain a Bloated Defense Budget
Robert Reich knows a thing or two about federal budgets, and the economist who has served in three presidential administrations says there is something wrong with Joe Biden’s plan to increase Pentagon spending above the levels proposed by former President Trump.
“The Pentagon already spends: $740,000,000,000 every year, $2,000,000,000 every day, $1,000,000 every minute,” says the former secretary of labor. “The last thing we need is a bigger military budget.”
Unfortunately, that’s what the president is seeking. This has led Reich to announce that he is “frankly disappointed that Biden’s proposing $715 billion for the Pentagon—an increase over Trump’s $704 billion defense budget—instead of moving back toward Obama-Biden era levels of defense spending, or less.”
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“Or less” is the right direction, especially at a moment when Republican deficit hawks are circling in preparation for attacks on domestic spending that is essential for working families who have been battered by the coronavirus pandemic.Biden’s $1.5 trillion budget plan has much to recommend it. The president is seeking significant increases in funding for education and proposing to invest in criminal justice and police reform, combating gun violence, and other worthy efforts. “However, despite the positive investments in these programs,” says Representative Barbara Lee, “I was incredibly disappointed at the significant increase in Pentagon spending to even higher levels than the Trump administration. With so many people across the country struggling to make ends meet, the last thing we need to do is increase investment in wasteful Pentagon spending.” Noting that “this budget adds twelve billion new dollars for weapons of war,” the longtime critic of endless wars asks us to “just think how that same amount could be used to invest in jobs, health care and fighting inequality—especially as we fight back a once in a century public health and economic crisis.”
Lee was once a lonely voice on behalf of cutting Pentagon spending. But the California Democrat now has allies in powerful places. “I have serious concerns,” says Senate Budget Committee chair Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), “about the proposed $753 billion budget request for the bloated Pentagon—a $12.3 billion increase compared to the last year of the Trump Administration. At a time when the U.S. already spends more on the military than the next 12 nations combined, it is time for us to take a serious look at the massive cost over-runs, the waste and fraud that currently exists at the Pentagon.”
Congressional Progressive Caucus chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) is blunter: “We’re in the midst of a crisis that has left millions of families unable to afford food, rent, and bills. But at the same time, we’re dumping billions of dollars into a bloated Pentagon budget. Don’t increase defense spending. Cut it—and invest that money into our communities.”
That’s not a radical response. When Data for Progress surveyed voters nationwide last year about budget priorities, 56 percent supported cutting the Pentagon budget by 10 percent to pay for fighting the coronavirus pandemic and funding education, health care, and housing. Sixty-nine percent of Democrats expressed enthusiasm for the proposed cut, which was striking. Even more striking was the 51 percent support it got from Republicans.
When the idea was raised in Congress in July of 2020, 93 members of the House of Representatives voted for a 10 percent cut, as did 23 senators. That wasn’t a win, obviously, but it was a groundbreaking show of support for reduced spending on the military-industrial complex.
Can congressional progressives build on that base of support to alter priorities in the Biden budget? It won’t be easy. Centrist Democrats will be cautious about cuts, and Republicans can be expected to demagogue the issue. But progressive caucus members have had success in pushing the new administration to abandon some of the worst Pentagon initiatives of the Trump years. For instance, a new letter signed by 70 House members commends Biden for “[his] first steps toward ending U.S. support for the war in Yemen, including announcing an end to U.S. military participation in offensive Saudi actions; a review of weapons sales to Saudi Arabia for use in its six-year air war in Yemen; and a revocation of President Trump’s terrorism designation against the Houthis, with the express purpose of averting a hunger crisis.” (The letter urges the president to go further and “use all available U.S. leverage with the Saudi regime to demand an immediate and unconditional end to its blockade, which threatens 16 million malnourished Yemenis living on the brink of famine.”)
One of the key movers in the fight to end US support for the war in Yemen, Representative Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), thinks the time is right to push the administration and Congress for a broader rethink of spending priorities.
“A proposed increase of $13 billion in defense spending is far too much given [the Pentagon budget’s] already rapid growth at a time of relative peace,” says the Wisconsin Democrat who with Lee cochairs the Defense Spending Reduction Caucus. “We cannot best build back better if the Pentagon’s budget is larger than it was under Donald Trump.”
Pocan has ideas for where to make cuts. For instance, he says “we must stop funding for former President Trump’s excessive $1.5 trillion nuclear modernization plan and complete a new nuclear posture review as each of the last three presidents have done. The United States has far more nuclear weapons than are needed for our security, so let’s stop funding the waste.” In addition to arguing for “no new spending on nuclear weapons,” Pocan points to the need to audit Pentagon waste and accountability measures to eliminate slush funds.
That’s a message that will resonate with the American people, says Representative Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), who maintains that there is a growing awareness that “it is simply inexcusable to continue to shower weapons manufacturers with hundreds of billions of dollars in Pentagon waste.”
Advocacy groups share the view that this is precisely the right time for members of Congress to make the case for tightening the bloated Pentagon budget. “Following a year of deadly proof that throwing money at the Pentagon does not keep us safe from modern day threats, it is unconscionable to not only extend Trump’s spending spree, but to add to it,” says Win Without War’s Erica Fein. “Deadly pandemics, climate crisis, desperate inequality—the greatest threats to global security do not have military solutions. Yet while we’re repeatedly asked how we will afford to address these truly existential threats, the same question is never asked of adding to the Pentagon’s already-overstuffed coffers. Let’s be clear: continuing to funnel near-limitless resources into the pockets of arms manufacturers while underfunding public goods only undermines the safety of people in the United States and around the world.”
More news, tweets, videos, etc in the comments section.
Fire away…
T and R, Ms. Benny, and the rest of the usual excellent TPW suspects!! ☮️😊👏
Will Biden’s foreign policy sap his domestic policy?
“an effort to rally democracies against authoritarianism,” read “threaten to squash them if they don’t do what we want.”
power face off is the whole problem. we must start working with others. calling people names and killing them with covid sanctions are not “facing off.” they are worse than ineffectual and cruel.
How come whenever the US military budget makes the news the follow up news spots are about China telling US warships to stay out of an area where thier present and then another story about Russian jets buzzing US air space, You’d swear that the 3 MIC’s stage this to scare everyone and keep the profit gravy train rolling in for all 3 of them. Its not that Russia, China just give weapons to thier allies
It sure would be nice to quit funding the MICC jobs program. Put the money into the actual war we now face: climate change.
and part of fighting climate change could be drawing down on the big ag and big forest clearing that fuels the other big threat. eisenhower was right and nobody listened and now they have the power to keep reformers out. we’ll keep coming from below. my only hope, thank god for something.
for one I’m sick n tired of the greed is good economy at the expense of a majority of Americans and the environment
FDA, CDC call for pause in use of Johnson & Johnson vaccine after six reported cases of rare blood clots
It’s been reported in Europe as well, but I think they had more cases. I’m wondering if J&J shouldn’t be used by those who have underlying conditions. Or perhaps some of the women were taking oral contraceptives.
I’m glad to see an MD take on a statistics puffer.
is he saying don’t let the peons know the dangers and let them make their own decisions?
Hey if the BS sounds good people will listen it gave us Cult-45
dang! glad we are both past the 13 days. astra zeneca had that too.
cosmology
on democracynow yesterday, as I recall, Lakota do not drink water for 4 days each year to be reminded about how sacred water is
Please watch this Bruno Latour lecture. His cosmology with air in the center, followed by soil,, and many more circles and finally on the edge, the deep earth. Rather than the thin layer, The Critical Zone which is hard to see, the new diagram puts The Critical Zone in the center, similar to the cosmology of Native Americans and others.
We are facing de-civilization. Will humans continue mass production or re-production? In the last year of WW II, Germany suffered half of their casualties as they went on a total war footing, while knowing that they couldn’t win. They were going to take down the country rather than give up.
Will humans do the same thing?
You can email me at donutter@att.net if you want further Bruno Latour material.
I have been on his path for 12 years and finally found someone to read his books with and now on his third book. Some of the later books read more than once, but I had to go back to the first work to understand the dramatic insights he has. After 40 years of work, with people in many disciplines, he has now been able to formulate the cosmological challenge for humans.
Bruno Latour, “From One Lockdown to the Next: A Change in Cosmology.”
His talk is the first hour. Then there are questions and answers.
With the “glove turned inside out”, putting the air at the center, then the soil, etc., he argues that the second lockdown is permanent. Like the Lakota. Humans should return to the earth. The radical implications of a change in cosmology back to those in the past.
i’m happy you found someone to read with, don!
wish i had more time to join you. i’m having to time myself on here, even, for a while, while i honestly purge this house. i am determined.
In the conservative Boston Herald of all places
https://www.bostonherald.com/2021/04/12/robbins-country-catching-up-to-bernie-sanders-way-of-thinking/
yes!
ooops. was going to share, and then saw that the article starts off with every tired dismissal of Bernie as if true.
still, good for robbins for admitting and writing the rest of the article. lol
How about the group of educated, informed Americans (granted, a minority) who supported these positions long before Bernie won his first political campaign? 🙄
The Real Migration Crisis is in Central America
As one can tell from the discourse, this was penned by an establishment journal (Foreign Affairs ). But despite some of the white washing there is some truth to the superficial roots of the problem.
don’t see how we’re going to change. we support (we probably chose and funded) every austerity puppet in the world.
and biden’s allowing children in may not be all that humane in intent, but rather gathering more cheap labor for tptb.
imagine if we supported the socialist types in power, and helped them institute good social safety nets, good farming practices, health care, education, with no real “benefit” for us except eventually having great neighbors. a feeling a real freedom creeping back into the world.
of course, the real benefits would be enormous in every sphere of life.
Your last paragraph sums it up PB. The problem is to many people in this country shiver in thier boots when any policy/program is called “socialism” unless is a bail out for the rich. Someday people may grow and except that these programs have to evolve in the US first then work on the other countries. Present company here already know this and it has to be the way forward.
Amen.
Two major negatives, the Roman Catholic Church and the American War on Drugs, have had devastating consequences throughout SA and CA. Now add climate change. The FRightwingnuts will only aggravate the problem, not solve it.
Mondaire Jones
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/04/12/only-congress-can-stop-jim-crows-return/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/04/12/now-is-time-break-traditions-white-nationalism-our-civic-institutions/?utm_source=reddit.com
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mondaire-jones-no-work-with-republicans_n_6074c8c6e4b02375ab425a2a
Mondaire Jones has endorsed Karen Peterson:
and Nina Turner:
One by one progressives, just keep picking off seats one here one thier
boom!
Excellent read, jcb. 👍
Biden’s Foreign Policy Starts at Home
Notice the insidious framing here: change of our imperialistic foreign policy isn’t on the table. Instead, the goal is to shore up the domestic economy to bolster what we are doing abroad.
What the hell is wrong with these people? The war machine, with its destabilizing affects abroad and horrific contribution to environmental destruction, is by nature against the interests of ordinary people at home. Pretending this contradiction doesn’t exist is peddling a lie.
If we are going to survive climate change as a civilized species, we need to kick the MICC habit. It has devastated this nation just like opiates have devastated human beings.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/refugees-joe-biden-elizabeth-warren_n_6074dbcbe4b043d6d4a20ce9
she’s still hoping for president someday. imho
She needs to work on grooming more women. Katie Porter is one of Warren’s proteges on the House side.
Has Liz done anything to help Katie? She sure seemed to be MIA when Pelousy screwed Porter on House assignments.
That time has passed for her and others in the boomer generation. Its time for the next generation.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/11/nyregion/mayor-race-nyc.html
https://gothamist.com/food/criminalization-poverty-stringer-and-others-denounce-yangs-remarks-unlicensed-street-vendors
Stringer has actual civic experience; Yang does not.
https://www.politico.com/states/new-york/city-hall/story/2021/04/12/left-leaning-pac-to-deploy-policy-poll-in-making-case-against-yang-1373427
The attacks will get more intense on Yang, its now about how he responds to them.
If I was a NYC voter, I would not vote for Yang. He has too many red flag alerts now. First, his POTUS campaign and now the mayor’s race. NYCVG has done a superb job following the race for us Nesters. 😊👏
EMILY’s List spending is actually good here.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/4/13/2025588/-Morning-Digest-Outside-spending-intensifies-ahead-of-all-Democratic-House-race-in-Louisiana
I’m kinda surprised. Generally if the candidate isn’t very establishment, they tend to look for other candidates.
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/547759-nearly-400-state-and-local-officials-call-for-ban-on-new-fracking
👏👏
https://www.salon.com/2021/04/13/upper-class-traitor-chuck-collins-on-how-wealth-hoarding-will-create-more-trumps/