Out Of Control Congress Diverts Troop Funds
Our very own Socialist Democrat controlled Congress has done it again. This time they have diverted over $2 Billion intended to fund our brave young men and women in the military to their own pet projects. I wouldn’t go as far as saying that their pet projects are pigs, but there is a lot of pork involved.
According to Shaun Waterman of The Washington Times, senators diverted $2.6 billion in funds in a defense spending bill to pet projects largely at the expense of accounts that pay for fuel, ammunition and training for U.S. troops, including those fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to an analysis.
Among the 778 such projects, known as earmarks, packed into the bill: $25 million for a new World War II museum at the University of New Orleans and $20 million to launch an educational institute named after the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat.
Senior fellow at the Center for Defense Information, Winslow Wheeler said, “In 30 years on Capitol Hill, I never saw Congress mangle the defense budget as badly as this year”. Mr. Wheeler conducted a study that compared the Obama administration’s requests for funds with the $636 billion spending bill that the Senate passed. He discovered that senators added $2.6 billion in pet projects while spending $4 billion less than the administration requested for fiscal 2010, which began Oct. 1. If you do the math, that means that our patriotic senators actually gave our military almost $7 Billion less than was requested.
Most of that $7 Billion was taken from the funding used for “”operations and maintenance” or O&M accounts. O&M funds pay for troop training, repairs, spares and supplies for vehicles, weapons, ships and planes, food and fuel. The administration’s budget requested $156 billion for the regular O&M account and $81 billion for O&M for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The bill passed by the Senate cut $2.4 billion from the regular account and $655 million from the war O&M fund.
Sen. Tom Coburn, Oklahoma Republican, said, “The Senate is putting favorable headlines back home above our men and women fighting on the front lines. He called the transfer of funds from Pentagon operations and maintenance “a disgrace”, and I for one agree whole-heartedly with him. I fear that history will look back at this time and say America’s death march began in earnest after the 2008 elections. If you are a praying person, it is time to pray about the 2010 mid-term elections.
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About the Author: Bill is a 51 year old IT Professional who enjoys political blogging in his spare time after work and after the daily grind at the gym.