 |
|---|
 |
|
March 1, 2011 Tomgram: Chris Hellman, $1.2 Trillion for National Security
So the big week is here as the federal
budget heads for the Washington operating table. The question in the
media will be: to shut or not to shut the government down -- and whether
that
shutdown is likely to happen now,
two weeks from now, or
in the spring
when raising the debt ceiling comes up for debate. In the meantime,
the new Republican majority in the House of Representatives is intent on
taking out
fuel subsidies for the poor,
federal funding for
Planned Parenthood, money for
National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting System, and the
Maternal and Child Health Block Grant
that “supports state-based prenatal care programs and services for
children with special needs,” among many other programs, but not (as New York Times columnist Gail Collins
pointed out recently) the millions of dollars the U.S. Army sinks into its “relationship” with NASCAR. The House
voted down a proposal to eliminate that program a week ago by a wide margin.
Here’s the thing, though: the House Republicans are going after their version of unsightly pimples on the body politic -- the programs they and their billionaire sponsors find ideologically unpalatable -- without seriously considering where our money really flows. We at TomDispatch thought we might lend a hand to Congress’s deliberations this week by offering something new: the first real figure on what American taxpayers actually fork over for the Pentagon, the U.S. military, homeland security, our distant wars, the care of veterans, intelligence, and every other aspect of our national security and war state. It’s often said that military and security expenditures make up 20% of the federal budget. But you have to wonder about that figure when you consider what the U.S. national security budget adds up to. Let’s face it: what American taxpayers really fork over for “national security” should make us all feel exceedingly insecure, as Christopher Hellman of the National Priorities Project, an expert on military spending, makes clear below. He offers a startling figure that undoubtedly could have -- and should have -- been calculated long ago by others in the media and in government (including that freshman class of Republican congressional representatives). Perhaps, though, Americans in Washington and out would prefer not to know where their money is really going. Here’s your chance. Take out your calculator and check the addition yourself -- and prepare to be staggered. You’re the first to see this. Don’t let this figure disappear again. (To catch Timothy MacBain’s latest TomCast audio interview in which Hellman explains how he arrived at his staggering numbers, click here, or download it to your iPod here.) Tom The Real U.S. National Security Budget |
