Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan want to cut domestic spending in order to increase military spending. Regardless of whatever else may be true – that is, regardless of whether you think more military spending is otherwise a good idea, or how you feel about the public services that would be axed by greater domestic cuts…
[This letter in support of the Mulvaney-Frank amendment was organized by the Project On Government Oversight. The PDF is here:] July 18, 2012 An Open Letter to Congress in Support of Reining in Runaway Spending by the Pentagon Dear Members of the House of Representatives, We, the undersigned organizations, strongly urge you to support the…
This week, a series of showdowns is expected in the House over the Pentagon budget, when House Members vote on amendments to the Defense Appropriations Bill to cut the overall level of military spending, end or limit the war in Afghanistan, and draw down troops permanently stationed in Europe. What happens in these votes will…
Highlights on Military Spending from the House debate on the Sequester Replacement Reconciliation Act (May 10, 2012) [compiled by Women’s Action for New Directions from the Congressional Record.] Barbara Lee (D-CA) Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to the Sequester Replacement Reconciliation Act. Today, House Republican leadership is asking low and middle…
A key reason that it’s relatively easy to scaremonger about predictions regarding Social Security’s finances decades in the future is that the language often used to talk about Social Security’s finances isn’t immediately comparable to anything else that most people can relate to. A number that isn’t comparable to other numbers you know is a…
On Wednesday night, the Senate adopted by voice vote an amendment introduced by Oregon Democrat Jeff Merkley calling on President Obama to speed up U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan. This was a watershed event towards ending the war. The previous high water mark of Senators calling for expedited withdrawal was 27; the previous high water…
Just Foreign Policy issued a press release earlier today in response to the Congressional “Super” Committee’s failure to come to an agreement to reduce government spending by $1.2 trillion over the next ten years. You may read the press release here.
Lee-Campbell Bipartisan Letter to Super Committee on Military Spending: Dear Colleague, As the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, or the ‘Supercommittee’, seeks out savings and works to end wasteful spending throughout the federal budget, it is critical that all federal agencies, including the Department of Defense, are subject to the same level of scrutiny…
For the first time in a decade, significant cuts in projected military spending are on the table. If the "Super Congress" doesn’t reach a deal on $1.2 trillion in debt reduction over the next ten years by Thanksgiving, $1.2 trillion in automatic cuts will be triggered, half of which must come from the military; and…