Monday, September 18, 2017

Reuters — Senate backs massive increase in military spending


"Affordability"? No problem.

Reuters
Senate backs massive increase in military spending

The Hill News
Senate passes $700B defense bill
Jordain Carney

Also
One of the most controversial proposals put forward by Sen. Bernie Sanders during the 2016 presidential campaign was a pledge to make tuition free at public colleges and universities. Critics from both parties howled that the pie-in-the-sky idea would bankrupt the country. Where, after all, would the money come from?
Such concerns were brushed aside on Monday night, as the Senate overwhelmingly approved an $80 billion annual increase in military spending, enough to have fully satisfied Sanders’ campaign promise....
To put that in further perspective: if the package becomes law, U.S. military spending would exceed the total spending of its next 10 rivals put together, going off of 2016 military spending estimates from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
Put another way, with a $700 billion military budget, the U.S. would be spending more than three times as much as China on its military, and ten times as much as Russia.

According to SIPRI, the U.S. already accounts for more than a third of all military spending:The share of world military expenditure of the 15 states with the highest spending in 2016. (Credit, SIPRI)
Or, to think about it another way, with $80 billion a year you could make public colleges and universities in America tuition-free. In fact, Sanders’ proposal was only estimated to cost the federal government $47 billion per year....
The Intercept
The Senate’s Military Spending Increase Alone Is Enough to Make Public College Free
Alex Emmons

6 comments:

Matt Franko said...

Next up: Tax cuts...

Noah Way said...

Single payer? We can't afford it!

Matt Franko said...

Here:

"Arizona Senator John McCain, whose vote was pivotal in defeating the “skinny repeal” bill, is withholding his support for the Graham-Cassidy plan for now; Kentucky Senator Rand Paul has said he won’t support it. Democrats have tentatively warmed to a Medicare-for-all bill introduced by independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, with several potential 2020 presidential nominees co-sponsoring the legislation."

Trump could easily jump on Bernie's bill if the GOP won't deal..... don't put it past him if he thinks it's in his best interests....

Alt-right supports Medicare for all US legals....

Tom Hickey said...

Medicare for All is coming eventually not only because it makes the most sense economically as well as politically when a significant portion of the voting public now sees health care as a public good and access as a right instead of a privilege restricted to those that can afford it.

People also realize that the GOP assertion that everyone is covered by access to emergency rooms is just BS.

Medicare is well-known to all, and it is also well understood that there are no worries and no hassles after coverage by Medicare. It is also well-known that this is not the case with private insurance.

Obamacare got the ball rolling. Now there is no turning back, although there may be delays.

Politicians need to fix health care and pension insecurity, or else the public will find politicians that will.

Kaivey said...

They're always voting for an increase in spending, imaging if this was Russia spending Zillions on is military all the time. What would the MSM say?

Ryan Harris said...

This down payment keeps the DC two-party deep state from turning the weapons on Americans. Think of it as a tithe to the beltway rather than military spending.