rssA $663.7 Billion Defense Budget*
Thursday, February 26, 2009 at 4:11 pm
- 9 Comments
Let it never be said that President Obama is cutting defense.
Obama’s budget outline today doesn’t really include the defense budget. What it includes is the top-line principles for the defense budget — the big big number of $663.7 billion — but the details are still subject to Defense Secretary Bob Gates’ budget review, which will be completed in April. Imagine a car with the exterior frame finished before the engine is installed.
So even though there’s not much under the hood right now, let’s take a look anyway.
First, all that stuff about Obama and Gates agreeing to a $537 billion cap in “base budget” spending — that is, Pentagon expenditures that don’t include operations in the two wars? That’s there. In fact, the base-budget figure is slightly under, at $533.7 billion, which is still four percent over the Pentagon budget from last year. (Again: the idea that this is a cut is either ignorant or disingenuous.) So why the $663.7 figure?
Because this year the Obama administration is ending the Bush administration’s practice of seeking “supplemental” funding for the wars. You’ve been paying this much for defense anyway. It’s just that the Bush people wanted you to see two numbers — one for Pentagon base-budget spending that was around $500 billion and one for war funding that was under $100 billion — because they wanted to make their deficit numbers look smaller by excluding the war costs. That bit of accounting fraudulence is over, and the price of it is a measure of sticker shock.
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9 Comments
Pingback posted February 27, 2009 @ 8:46 am
[...] growth in the private sector. He is also filling out his Pentagon with more appointments. Let it never be said that Obama is cutting defense. Return to the News Analysis [...]
Comment posted February 27, 2009 @ 4:23 pm
I guess the biggest question here it – does the US really need this large of a defense funds regardless? How long has it been since the US was formally attacked?
I understand that this amount was built into by default, but many would question what it is even there at that level in the first place.
Comment posted March 23, 2009 @ 6:57 pm
Th pentagon and the acquisition commands(?) need to stop activating reservists who are occupying acquisition offices drinking coffee and handling office parties. Am I joking. NOT!!!! I have witnessed it and it is costing us millions in defense spending. The same federal dollars can keep our tecjers at local schools employed.
Comment posted March 23, 2009 @ 7:02 pm
The Pentgon is bankrupting America. We are spending a trillion dollars a year for defense. procurement waste is the problem. Procurement waste includes research, production and operations and maintnance accounts in the p-50 and R-2 forms published in the DoD Comptroller website. These billions can go to other things outside the defense department to make our country strong.
Comment posted March 24, 2009 @ 1:57 am
Th pentagon and the acquisition commands(?) need to stop activating reservists who are occupying acquisition offices drinking coffee and handling office parties. Am I joking. NOT!!!! I have witnessed it and it is costing us millions in defense spending. The same federal dollars can keep our tecjers at local schools employed.
Comment posted March 24, 2009 @ 2:02 am
The Pentgon is bankrupting America. We are spending a trillion dollars a year for defense. procurement waste is the problem. Procurement waste includes research, production and operations and maintnance accounts in the p-50 and R-2 forms published in the DoD Comptroller website. These billions can go to other things outside the defense department to make our country strong.
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