House Republicans are up in arms tonight, demanding an official explanation from the Obama Administration for the revelation from the budget office that the funding for the occupation of Afghanistan would in fact face some small cuts in fiscal 2013 as part of the overall “sequestration” cuts.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta had insisted in November that the money for occupying Afghanistan would not by touched, but the military has yet to consider exactly how they would make cuts, instead railing against them on general principle and demanding that Congress exempt the military entirely. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) said that in the absence of a plan the funding for the occupation was “fair game.”
The letter from Reps. Buck McKeon (R – CA), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R – FL) and Mike Rogers (R – MI) termed any cut to the spending on the conquest of Afghanistan “morally unconscionable” and demanded that the administration assure that the cuts not apply to anything war related.
Though this is being presented as a call to shift the cuts to other parts of the military, it comes as a number of hawks in the Senate are pushing to avoid the cuts entirely, even if it means a tax hike. Already offended by the idea of bringing spending down to 2007 levels, the idea that spending on the endless war might actually be cut could be used to sell these tax hikes to the rest of Congress.
The 'conquest' of Afghanistan? Now there's a phrase of which even the most ardent war hawk would steer well clear. A 'conquest' this fiasco hasn't – and will never be.
In the letter they talk about Constitutional authority to generate bipartisan bills…such cajones…
What kills me is that if these 3 warmonger yahoos had been interested in avoiding cuts to Defense brought on by Sequestration they should have been seriously interested in a bipartisan bill last summer. Their intransigence to even talk to the Dems – you know – our way or no way – guaranteed that Sequestration would become reality. With Defense being the largest recipient of taxpayer largess and the "war effort" the largest boondoggle hoisted on the taxpayer I think it fair that all recipients share equally in the miniscule shavings to come.
Perhaps next time these 3 will seriously consider using their Constitutional authority and actually attempt to create a bipartisan bill. Yup, that's going to happen…
Same old, same old. Long past time to pick the military tick and its supporters off the body of the republic.
You can be sure that the radical Islamists will bankrupt the USA. The amount of American capital that has been spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanastan was never budgeted for and the ever increasing debt will drag the US empire finally down to size. If these reps think they have the American people's interests at heart, you can be sure that the end is in sight. Sixteen trillion dollars and counting and the military shouldn't have to cut their budget. Give the average American a break!
One party politics
Both the Republicans and Democrats are conservatives, as they both
vote to give the rich ruling-class most of the wealth,
vote to give the educated middle-class what is left of the wealth
vote to keep the uneducated lower half of society powerless by poverty.
But there is a difference, the Democrats are bigger liars, as they pretend to not be conservatives.
The "military tick" is the size of an elephant and will not be picked off, I'm afraid.
It never ceases to end. Out of work Americans and failing infrastructure at home? To hell with that. Keep the war spigots flowing!
I find myself hoping for a malfunctioning drone to take out the entire capital and all of these parasites.
I have a couple of ideas on how to fix that problem. (1) Let them donate their own salaries and kickbacks; (2) let them and their inbred kids volunteer to take up arms. Problem solved!
It seems that Insatiable Bloodlust is a resume enhancement for politicians
What I love is the use of the term 'morally' to describe the 'outrageous' idea of cutting the war budget. It's "Morally" outrageous, of course, NOT because it involves supporting troops, for they'llcheerfully cut back on VA spending any day. It's only 'morally' important to them because they (stupidly) believe that this war involves some sort of protection for themselves. Their 'morality' is pure, unadulterated self-serving COWARDICE. The secret to Republicans is their yellow streak, hiding behind the military like kids hiding behind their nanny's skirts.