The Pentagon Budget Costs 4 Times As Much As Biden's Social Policy Bill. Guess Which One... [View all]

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The Pentagon Budget Costs 4 Times As Much As Biden’s Social Policy Bill. Guess Which One Congress Thinks Is Too Pricey.
Lawmakers are rushing to pass a $778 billion defense authorization bill for next year, but are dithering over $170 billion annually for the Build Back Better Act.
By Akbar Shahid Ahmed
11/19/2021 02:30pm EST


Now that the House of Representatives has approved President Joe Biden’s social spending and climate plan, the legislation’s fate depends on the Senate ― where Republicans and key Democrats say the plan costs too much. But as senators debate the $1.7 trillion package, they will also advance a far more expensive bill with far less scrutiny: the annual Pentagon budget, which approves more than four times as much spending as Biden’s Build Back Better Act.

Lawmakers have this year crafted one of the largest military spending bills in American history. The National Defense Authorization Act would approve $778 billion in spending in 2022, compared to the approximately $170 billion in spending that Biden’s social policy would entail next year. Senate leaders hope to pass the defense legislation before Thanksgiving and Build Back Better in December.

Hawkish Democrats worked with Republicans to ensure that the defense bill would be $25 billion greater than Biden’s proposal for the military budget, and to quash progressive efforts to trim costs.

“There’s a fear of being seen as weak on national security by some Democrats but we need to reframe the debate ― a lot of the money is going to defense contractors,” said Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), a member of the House Armed Services Committee. “We should say we’re for military families and job creation, not CEO salaries of $5 million.”

“And we shouldn’t be memorializing [former President Donald] Trump’s massive increases,” he added, referring to the huge uptick in defense budgets under the last Republican administration.

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https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ndaa-build-back-better_n_6197ee6de4b025be1adbcc74