Quote of the Day: “No organization crucial to national security spending really has much of an idea of how well or badly it is spending vast sums of taxpayer money — and worse yet, Congress knows even less” – Chris Hellman
October 1 is a new fiscal year for the Federal State.This means Congress has to produce TWELVE Appropriations bills by then.
Is there any reason to believe they will be passed on time? Recent history says no. Congress will probably pass a “Continuing Resolution” to keep the federal leviathan running.
These appropriations bills will be Congress’s focus this fall. And we will pressure Congress to cut, cut, cut, and cut some more.
That’s why I sent this letter telling Congress to make STEEP cuts in the Pentagon budget using DownsizeDC.org’s Cut Spending campaign.
The hard-wired message says simply, “Please cut federal spending.”
I made these additional comments, from which you may borrow or copy…
I urge my Senators to oppose H.R. 2219, The Department of Defense Appropriations Act. This bill, which passed the House in July…
* Is filled with pork and earmarks. http://tinyurl.com/5tzbhwp
* Will cost $649 billion overall
* Will cost the average family $6,300 http://tinyurl.com/3v4nmvvWhat am I getting for this “defense?”
Nobody knows — not the Pentagon, not Congress, not We the People. As Chris Hellman reports, “Despite decades of complaints from Capitol Hill… the Department of Defense still cannot pass an audit. Believe it or not, it never has.” http://www.thenation.com/article/162803/has-pentagons-post-911-spending-spree-made-us-safer
Should you reward the Pentagon for this? To what purpose?
* You spend so much on Defense, that even if you cut $400 billion, it would STILL be more than DOUBLE China’s defense budget. http://milexdata.sipri.org/
* Despite dramatically increased spending, our Navy and Air Force have less hardware than they did in 1998. http://tinyurl.com/3o6ssqx
* You have spent $1.3 trillion of our money on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Those wars may have made more enemies for us than they killed.You MUST do better!
* Chop off $130 billion by bringing the troops home from Iraq and Afghanistan ASAP
* Bring troops home from Europe and the Pacific Rim. Wealthy countries should provide for their own defense.
* Cancel all contracts and programs that even the Pentagon thinks are unnecessary (no more pork!)
* Make yearly across-the-board cuts until the Pentagon produces an auditYou can make DEEP cuts to the Pentagon while still maintaining a VERY strong Defense. Making these cuts is ESSENTIAL to restoring America’s fiscal health and defense prowess. In the words of Lawrence Summers, “How long can the world’s biggest borrower remain the world’s biggest power?”
END LETTER
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Thank you,
Jim Babka
President
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.