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Congress Gives The Pentagon More Than It Wanted
December 11, 2007: The U.S. will spend $692.3
billion on defense in 2008. However, 27
percent of that (nearly $200 billion) is just for operations in Iraq and
Afghanistan. For some of this money, there are some strings attached. While the
navy gets $11.7 billion for ship building, all submarines, aircraft carriers
and cruisers must be nuclear powered. Although the army and marines are having
second thoughts about ordering so many armored trucks (MRAPS), Congress gave
them $17.6 billion (50 percent more money than originally requested.) That's
good politics. The new spending bill comes with more auditors and regulations
regarding contract fraud. The generals and admirals have some flexibility here,
as this bill is the "authorization" to spend the money, and in most
cases, the brass can decide not to spend it on some things. That usually means
they can't spend it on something else. But in the case of buying weapons or
equipment you don't need, you also save on not having to maintain stuff you did
not decide to get.
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