Where our defense money goes

Boston Globe, Common Dreams by Bob Edgar, Bill Goodfellow | Aug. 5, 2009 (Opinion)

The same week the Senate voted to cut funding for additional F-22s, for a savings of $1.75 billion, the Senate Armed Services Committee added another $9 billion in earmarks to the 2010 defense authorization bill. Earmarks direct money to a specific program or company in a member’s district for something that has not been requested by the Pentagon and has not been subject to any public review or hearing. It is a gift from a member to a constituent, a ... Full Story »

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4.2

by Dwight Rousu - Aug. 6, 2009

The article identifies congressional concealment of earmarks, and refusal to inform the public and refusal to rein in the abuse. Congressman Hodes' bill is presented as a move toward correcting the corruption. Well presented.

Publicly financed voter-owned elections would likely do more to halt this than the Hodes bill.

every dollar spent on the military is a dollar borrowed from the Chinese or Japanese governments, a dollar that must be repaid with interest. More »

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4.9

by James Canning - Aug. 8, 2009

Those who believe the US's own defense establishment is a threat to America's national security will find ample support here. The insane squandering of hundreds of billions of dollars on useless weapons systems, paid for by borrowing money from China and Japan, weakens the US.

The armaments manufacturers, and their huge array of lawyers, lobbyists, prostitute politicians and paid generals and admirals, are steadily eroding ... More »

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3.8

by Tanya J. Maurer - Aug. 7, 2009

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4.9

by Gordon Oliver - Aug. 7, 2009

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Politics | Corruption

How Pay-to-Play Corrupts Washington

Consortium News by Michael Winship | Aug. 5, 2009 (Opinion)

Summer is no time to be in Washington, the sun and humidity so oppressive that someone once described the sensation as akin to living inside the mouth of a very large dog. ...

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