The Pentagon’s Untouchable Budget
Did you really think that electing Joe Biden would mean major reductions in military spending and the shift of Pentagon resources to spending on social well-being, as progressives have long advocated? Think again. Mind you, wouldn’t it be perfectly sensible, and ethical, to use some of the $700-billion-plus military budget to help finance Biden’s $6 trillion infrastructure and economic recovery plan? Sure, it’s good that he’s looking for hikes on corporate taxes and the wealthiest Americans to do the job. We already see, however, that corporate taxes are going to be much lower than previously planned, and we just learned that the wealthiest Americans hardly pay any federal taxes at all.
The easier pot of gold to draw from is the one right there in the bloated military budget. Biden, however, won’t do that. Following presidential tradition, and a skewed notion of bipartisanship, he will not touch that pot. After all, the Chinese are coming!
Biden’s proposed military budget for fiscal year 2022 is $752.9 billion, a 1.6 percent increase over the previous year’s $703 billion. In presenting the budget request, defense secretary Lloyd J. Austin said it “provides us the mix of capabilities we need most and stays true to our focus on the pacing challenge from the People’s Republic of China, combating the damaging effects of climate change on our military installations, and modernizing our capabilities to meet the advanced threats of tomorrow” (https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Releases/Release/Article/2638711/the-department-of-defense-releases-the-presidents-fiscal-year-2022-defense-budg/).
