On Wednesday, the Senate passed the $895 billion 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The House passed the mammoth bill last week, and it now heads to President Biden’s desk for his signature.
The spending bill passed the Senate in a vote of 85-14, easily getting the 60 votes that it needed. The NDAA primarily funds the Pentagon and includes some spending for other government agencies’ military programs.
While the NDAA is massive, it does not nearly account for total US military-related spending. According to veteran defense analyst Winslow Wheeler, based on the $895 billion request by the White House, US national security spending for 2025 is expected to reach about $1.77 trillion.
Wheeler’s estimate accounts for military-related spending from other government agencies not funded by the NDAA, such as the Department of Veteran Affairs and Homeland Security. It also includes the national security share of the interest accrued on the US debt and other factors.
In recent years, Congress has also authorized massive “emergency” supplemental spending bills to fund proxy wars overseas. In April, President Biden signed a massive $95 billion supplemental that included military aid for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and the Philippines.
”Massive”?!
Humongous!!!
and disgusting, despicable.
Well, we know which waste won't be cut by co-president Musk.
No waste will be cut by Musk. The “Department of Government Efficiency” will just be an advisory board that can make recommendations — basically like you writing to your congresscritter, only on “DOGE” letterhead.
Didn't I just catch a headline on my Google News feed about NATO encouraging its member-states to cut social program spending to boost "defense" budgets ??
I would have to think the average person anywhere doesn't see any real value in these massive military budgets. Unless they're profiting by it, but that's not the average person's racket.
They must cut something to fund the military.
Some Brits especially enjoy telling tales of their empire. They want to feel powerful.
Yes, you did catch exactly that on your Google News.
Wish I had a credit card that I didn’t have to pay back.
“We are living in a material world but I’m not a material girl”!
So she said Donna. But have you seen her lately? 🙂
Senate only cares about US hegemony… Not the US citizens…!
And MIC kickbacks, and preventing whatever dirt exists on them from coming out.
Insider trading works too.
With Trump team hitting on Social Security cut there would be even more money for MIC…!
Doubt he’d cut that, but I hope he does. I hope he cuts MIC too and adds a tax rebate or UBI.
Don't forget, SS is NOT a TAX, it is a retirement INSURANCE PREMIUM paid for by wage and salary earners only, the millionaires don't contribute a nickel.
It’d be nice to end it. It burdens the young and the otherwise poor. It’d be better to just cut the MIC to $50b a year. Maybe we need drones now to persecute Americans. So, maybe $150b is needed. Then a President could war with the rest of the citizenry. But I don’t see a need beyond that.
Futurama’s Robot Nixon comes to mind, and though it’s a largely unfair portrayal, it’s not so unfair when looking at se Asia.
What we do need is an honest government. Our officials are as corrupt as in any third world underdeveloped nation. They are overpaid robbers, lobbyists are writing the laws making their robbery legal, they are not serving the nation. We all know that some 50% of aid never reached the Ukrainian people and our oh so honorable democrats refused an audit to find out where the billions of American tax $$$ ended up. What do they have to hide? We have shamefully low standards for our overpaid politicians, the club of millionaires, look at the people Trump picks for his cabinet, more glorified millionaires.
It’s well that they’re paid well; this enables the poor to serve in Congress.
Millionaires can be better sometimes, not due to Social Darwinism but to what their wealth grants them.
In the US it is technically a tax, just tax revenue that is marketed as insurance.
No, it is not a tax, it is a premium for social insurance only, not a federal tax, no matter what you call it, it is not a fed. tax. for good reason. It covers disability and survivors benefits. It operates like any insurance only it is a not for profit system not like private FOR profit health insurance. Lousy government is abusing the system to fill up the miserable budget holes. SSTF invested by law in TB is a loan to the government and the government is obligated to pay back every penny they borrow, more than $ 3 trillion are in the fund, it was not used for benefits at all, they cut benefits instead of using any funds from the Trust Fund because the government defaulted using the TB investments paying the military costs of wars and astronomical military waste. The insurance is marketed as a tax, which it is not, strictly speaking, it is a mandatory not for profit retirement/disability insurance for wage/salary earners only. But the Republicans opposed it from the beginning they want private for profit insurance.
There’s probably some argument for it. Most if not all (even war) policies have a benefit. Wells were dug in Afghanistan that probably weren’t entirely a waste.
But I don’t like SS on the whole. It creates a burden on the young and on society. I don’t like it.
The young get old, they could die young and leave a family behind, or they could have an accident and become disabled, SS covers the young too, it is more than just retirement. It could be much better, stagnating wages for some 4 decades and the denial of minimum wage increases prevented revenue to increase too. The solution would be increased wages an increase of the fed. minimum wage alone would be a big revenue improvement, keeping up with inflation. We need real government and people who make the system work, not undermining it by cutting the labor force when we need well trained people to do a real serve the people. We would also need some regulation of the private insurance industry, consumer protection is needed. We need a qualified civil service, not cheap labor with high turnover rates.
UBI might help. US wages suffered, but global wages are up. The minimum wages hinders small businesses and creates at least some unemployment.
UBI could also help with the injured and needy. Charity has a place.
Every business, big or small, has labor and other overhead expenses, working people too have expenses like food, shelter, health care, transportation and child care expenses, the is why they work for a living. Concentrating the nations wealth in the top 10% destroys the market because there is no working middle class able to buy and consume. We need fair and ethical business, mass production needs mass consume, Ford knew, if he produced masses of cars he needed masses to buy them.
Again, UBI, universal basic income.
Anyway, trade tariffs are needed to protect a workers paradise like you want. They would otherwise be undercut by cheaper imports.
It’s a payroll tax partially used to finance payments to forced participants in a Ponzi scheme.
The first ever SS which was passed under Bismarck worked roughly as follows.
1. It was voluntary.
2. You bought stickers with your own income and pasted these onto SS sheets.
3. The total value of the stickers determined the SS payments.
4. The payments were guaranteed by the state.
Keep spending us into oblivion.
National Defense – the biggest crock of shit on planet Earth.
Crisis! The government spends!
No big deal but the $ 1 trillion over 10 years bill funding infrastructure was a big accomplishment. So much of the priorities of our corrupt public servants. Never mind our food challenged children and homeless people including children.
Even the 14 nays check to make sure first that they aren't going to stop anything, just be able to say to their constituents that they "tried."
Our government is an addict with an imaginary sugar daddy.