“Millions for defense, but not one cent for…..Build Back Better”
Social spending enables military spending
This quotation (duly mangled) still lurks in the fog of my high school courses in U.S. history.
Its correct form – “Millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute” – is attributed to Robert Goodloe Harper. (1) It was uttered in reaction to the XYZ Affair of 1798 – 1800. (How’s that for fog?)
To the point: Congress moved at warp speed to appropriate $770 billion (0.77 trillion) in defense spending for fiscal year 2022. That’s more money than even the Biden administration and the Pentagon wanted. (2)
But Build Back Better? (3) (4) One might as well have fourteen teeth extracted in one sitting by using pairs of pliers – and without novocaine.
The version passed by the House is for $1.75 trillion over the course of ten years. (5) Prospects in the Senate are – well – uncertain.
If one were to extrapolate the same level of Pentagon spending (0.77 trillion) for one year, then Defense would equal the House’s ten year Build Back Better figure of $1.75 trillion in 2.26 years.
In other words, the Pentagon’s annual monetary burn rate is over four times that in the House version of BBB.
The rhetorical question of the day: doesn’t it occur to the hiveminds wanting to advance military spending that they need millions of healthy and prosperous taxpayers in order to pay for it all?
I daresay that there’s a certain callous wisdom to advancing defense spending and social spending in tandem. In other words – social spending enables military spending.
Sources:
(3) https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/5376
(4) https://www.whitehouse.gov/build-back-better/
(5) https://time.com/6121415/build-back-better-spending-bill-summary/
#defense
#Pentagon
#BuildBackBetter
The U.S. spends twice as much on social programs then it spends on the military. Add in the $175 million a year for Build Back Better / Inflation Reduction Act that CNN says has very little building in it. Don't get me wrong I think the U.S. Govt. that's us spend way too much for both military and social spending. $900.00 tax credit to buy an electric bike!!!