White House backs ($409 BILLION) defense spending bill

[UpInArms]

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B183BD5A5%2D13E2%2D4047%2D83CA%2D025A75F863E4%7D&siteid=mktw

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The White House on Thursday endorsed a nearly $409 billion defense spending bill for fiscal 2006, but warned it would resist congressional efforts to further shift funds between specific acquisition programs.

The House was expected to easily pass the bill as early as Thursday. The package cleared the House Appropriations Committee in a unanimous vote earlier this month.

The Senate is working on its own version of a fiscal 2006 defense spending bill, which will eventually need to be reconciled with the House package.

The House bill includes $45.3 billion in emergency funds to cover the ongoing cost of military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan from this coming October through March of next year. Almost all of the $363.7 billion remainder would be for discretionary defense spending -- around $3.3 billion less than requested by President Bush in his 2006 budget request, but an increase of around 3.1% over fiscal 2005.

As is usually the case with spending bills, the House package differs from the White House in funding levels for a range of specific programs, granting more money in some areas and less in others.

...more...

[maddezmom]

1. $363.7 billion remainder would be for discretionary defense spending

huh, what does that mean exactly? They don't need to tell anyone what they are spending it on? :shrug:

[dissent1977]

2. Enough is enough

It is time people started calling for serious cuts in the military budget. Having a budget so large does not make our country safer, in fact it makes us less safe. When the Pentagon has to justify such large budgets they do so by showing our military might when it is not appropriate to do so.

I am sick of the spineless Democrats who tell us that we can not touch the military budget. We need more people like Kucinich who speak up and say that the military already has too much money, and they don't need anymore. Lets invest in peace not war.

[UpInArms]

3. I say they quit doing separate funding for the "wars"

in Afghanistand and Iraq -

they need to pay for it from their $409 Billion Annual Budget

:argh:

[Endangered Specie]

4. thats about $130,000 a second.