Military Spending

The Eisenhower-Obama Doctrine? Ending the Military's "Blank Check"

Peter M. Shane | Posted 12.02.2009 | Politics

Read More: Obama, Military, Change We Can Believe In, Afghanistan, Military Spending, Progressives, Afghanistan War, Politics News
Peter M. Shane

When it comes to national defense, there appears to be no ambition too excessive, no cost too burdensome, and no deficit too large.

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Arnold Schwarzenegger in Iraq

Joseph A. Palermo | Posted 11.21.2009 | Politics

Read More: Empire, Chalmers Johnson, Nouri Al-Maliki, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Brit Hume, California Politics, Fox News, Governor Schwarzenegger, Kevin Phillips, William Greider, Military Spending, Iraq War, Baghdad, New York Times, Schwarzenegger, Health Care, Baghdad Trade Fair, Politics News
Joseph A. Palermo

Brit Hume of FOX News once compared Iraq's murder rate to California's to downplay the level of American casualties because the two places are similar...

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New Tools for Peace in Afghanistan

Jim Wallis | Posted 11.16.2009 | World

Read More: Corruption, Debate, President Obama, Humanitarian, Washington, Security Forces, Congress, Washington Post, Military Options, President Karzai, Surge, Hammers, Foreign Policy, Government, Infrastructure, Japanese Government, Karl Eikenberry, Escalation, Military, Afghanistan, Military Spending, Un, Terrorism, Security, Development, Humanitarian Assistance, World News
Jim Wallis

Development and humanitarian assistance can no longer be an afterthought; they must be central to any strategy the U.S. government puts forward in Afghanistan.

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What Obama Is Up Against

Russ Baker | Posted 11.04.2009 | Politics

Read More: John F. Kennedy, Central Intelligence Agency, Henry Kissinger, Ronald Reagan, Military Industrial Complex, Harry Truman, President Obama, George W. Bush, Obama, Bob Woodward, Bush Administration Torture, Robert Gates, George H.W. Bush, Richard Nixon, National Security, Gerald Ford, Nancy Pelosi, Congressional Oversight, Fdr, Hamid Karzai, Bill Clinton, Afghanistan, Barack Obama, Afghanistan War, Iraq War, Bush Administration, Dwight Eisenhower, Cia, Military Spending, Stanley McChrystal, Jimmy Carter, Prescott Bush, Allen Dulles, Lyndon Johnson, Iraq, Torture, Politics News
Russ Baker

We Americans harbor a quaint belief that a new president takes charge of a government that eagerly awaits his next command. But that's not how things work at the top, especially where "national security" is concerned.

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Downsizing the Military

Jay Mandle | Posted 11.04.2009 | Politics

Read More: Healthcare Reform, Federal Budget Deficit, Military Spending, Foreign Policy, Politics News
Jay Mandle

The next great political fight will be over a post-recession reduction in government spending in the name of narrowing the gap between government revenues and expenditures.

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Cashing in the War Dividend: The Joys of Perpetual War

Jo Comerford | Posted 10.20.2009 | Politics

Read More: Pentagon, Universal Health Care, Pentagon Budget, Health Care, Military Spending, Office of Management and Budget, Politics News
Jo Comerford

The tired peace dividend tug boat left the harbor two decades ago, dragging with it laughable hopes for universal health care and decent public education. Now, the mighty USS War Dividend is preparing to set sail.

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We Can't Afford Health Care? You lie!

Tom H. Hastings | Posted 11.12.2009 | Politics

Read More: You Lie, Foreign Bases, Budget Priorities, Death Panels, Health Care, Nukes, Military Spending, Politics News
Tom H. Hastings

Does it not seem that when the US can afford and not question nearly 1,000 military bases on other people's sovereign soil -- 287 of them in Germany alone -- that we can afford to create jobs?

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Dealing with the New Japan: Washington Won't Take "No" for an Answer

Doug Bandow | Posted 10.18.2009 | World

Read More: Mutual Defense Treaty, Liberal Democratic Party, Yukio Hatoyama, Democratic Party of Japan, Military Spending, Obama Administration, U.S.-Japan Alliance, Japan, World News
Doug Bandow

Only slightly less unhappy than the LDP dinosaurs who misruled Japan for so long are U.S. policymakers, who have grown used to Tokyo playing the role of pliant ally, backing American priorities and hosting its bases.

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Warfare Over Health Care

Joseph A. Palermo | Posted 08.31.2009 | Politics

Read More: Health Care Bill, Iraq War, Warfare, Health Care Debate, F-22 Jet Fighter, Senate Finance Committee, Afghanistan, President Barack Obama, Military Spending, Imperialism, Pentagon Budget, Empire, Health Care, War in Iraq, Afghanistan War, Politics News
Joseph A. Palermo

Senators are wrestling with saving a penny here and a penny there when they're aimed at bolstering people's health, but they believe the sky is the limit so long as the money is being funneled into foreign occupations.

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Three Good Reasons to Liquidate Our Empire

Chalmers Johnson | Posted 08.30.2009 | Politics

Read More: Empire, US Military, Military, Afghanistan, Military Spending, Foreign Affairs, Imperialism, Afghanistan War, Foreign Policy, Politics News
Chalmers Johnson

Few empires of the past voluntarily gave up their dominions in order to remain independent, self-governing polities. If we do not learn from their examples, our decline and fall is foreordained.

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Defense Secretary Scores Spending Cuts, But Not Satisfied: "It Would Be Nice To Win Our Current Wars"

AP | RICHARD LARDNER | Posted 08.25.2009 | Politics

Read More: Pentagon, Department of Defense, US Military, Afghanistan, F-22, Weapons, Defense Budget, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Military Spending, US Military Spending, Iraq, Robert Gates, Defense Department, Politics News

WASHINGTON — Robert Gates is on a roll. Question is, how long will it last? The politically savvy defense secretary scored big legislative wins...

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A Victory For Sensible Defense

The Progress Report | Posted 08.22.2009 | Politics

Read More: John McCain, F-22, Robert Gates, Obama Military, Congress Mili, US Military, Military Spending, Military Budget, Politics News
The Progress Report

The Center for American Progress Action Fund has launched the Sensible Defense campaign to "hold Congress accountable for putting wasteful defense spending back into the budget."

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F-22 Victory Is About More Than Just a Plane

Max Bergmann | Posted 08.21.2009 | Politics

Read More: F-22, Department of Defense, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Robert Gates, F-22 Plane, Military Spending, Obama Military Spending, Transparency, Politics News
Max Bergmann

This fight was about whether the Pentagon would be able to institutionalize the lessons from Iraq and Afghanistan and finally move out of the Cold War strategic mindset that still dominates.

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Lockheed Martin Fights Obama's Defense Budget

Sunlight Foundation. | Sunlight Foundation | Posted 08.13.2009 | Home

Read More: Transparency, Fighter Jet, F-22, Lockheed Martin, Military Industrial Complex, Military Spending, Home News

All eyes will be on the Sotomayor hearings in the Judicairy Committee this week, but legislative action in the Senate continues to go on. The Senate i...

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The New Economy Won't Be Like the Last One

Sarah van Gelder | Posted 07.23.2009 | Business

Read More: Infrastructure, CEO Pay, Wall Street, Local Economies, Finance, Money, Military Spending, Health, Speculation, Economy, President Obama, Economic Crisis, Obama Economy, Business News
Sarah van Gelder

The current economic downturn offers an exceptional opportunity to rebuild and, this time, to make it an economy that works for all.

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GOP's Descent to Madness

Jeff Schweitzer | Posted 05.17.2009 | Politics

Read More: Gop, Democrats, Limbaugh, Iraq War, Barack Obama Taxes, Tax Day Tea Party, Military Spending, George W. Bush, Politics News
Jeff Schweitzer

The GOP has become petty, spiraling down a narrowing vortex of ever-more extreme rhetoric, further isolating the party from mainstream America.

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The Unkindest "Cuts"--Military Mirages

Steve Cobble | Posted 05.16.2009 | Home

Read More: Military Spending, Home News
Steve Cobble

When UAW members have to give up some of their hours, or forego their hard-earned pensions, or give back part of their salaries, those are real cuts....

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Ryan Grim

Lieberman, GOP Push For Military Spending Hike

HuffingtonPost.com | Ryan Grim | Posted 05.04.2009 | Politics

Read More: Taxes, Spending, Budget, Military Spending, Joe Lieberman, Politics News

The Democratic budget passed late on Thursday night may "tax too much, borrow too much and spend to much" -- in the oft-repeated words of its opponent...

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Levin Moves to Cut Waste, Fraud and Abuse from Missile Programs

Joe Cirincione | Posted 04.24.2009 | Politics

Read More: Fraud, Congressional Oversight, Aig, Defense Spending, Carl Levin, Barack Obama, Military Spending, Missile Defense, Politics News
Joe Cirincione

In putting the hammer down on the Missile Defense Agency this week, Carl Levin served notice that the lax policies of the Bush administration were over.

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The $50 billion price tag for America's irrational fears

Ian Welsh | Posted 04.24.2009 | Politics

Read More: Boondoggles, Homeland Security, Military Spending, Politics News
Ian Welsh

The US spends almost half the world's military spending and too many Americans seem to think that it needs to spend more, not less.

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The War Supplemental is Coming Soon

Gordon Adams | Posted 04.20.2009 | Home

Read More: Pentagon, Supplemental Budget, Iraq War, Obama Defense Budget, Military Spending, Home News
Gordon Adams

With Obama's first emergency supplemental budget request coming later this week, now is the time to see whether he'll keep his promise. We clearly need such discipline.

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Getting Warmer

Robert Scheer | Posted 03.28.2009 | Politics

Read More: Robert Scheer, Cold War, Defense Budget, Truthdig, Barak Obama, Terrorism, Military Spending, Lobbyist, 100 Days, Obama Speech, Obama Administration, Obama State of the Union, State of the Union, Barack Obama, Politics News
Robert Scheer

While Obama promised an end to the Iraq disaster, he once again left open the door to the United States being trapped in an even more treacherous quagmire in Afghanistan.

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A Ten-Point Solartopian Starter Agenda for the Age of Obama

Harvey Wasserman | Posted 02.20.2009 | Politics

Read More: Obama, Green Living, Green Energy, Inauguration, Green Ec, Bill of Rights, Biofuels, Marijuana, Biofuel, Obama Inauguration, Universal Healthcare, Renewable Energy, US Military Spending, Free Education, Barack Obama Inauguration, Barack Obama, Muclear Weapons, Energy Efficiency, Corporations, National Health Reform, Military Spending, Universal Health Care, Education Reform, Atomic Bomb, Healthcare, Politics News
Harvey Wasserman

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan must end. The healing -- moral, spiritual, economic, and in terms of violence -- can only begin when the US leaves these battlefields.

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Will Obama be a Peacemaker?

John W. Whitehead | Posted 02.09.2009 | Politics

Read More: Peace Process, Military Industrial Complex, President Obama, War, Israel Gaza Airstrikes, Martin Luther King Jr., Dwight D. Eisenhower, Barack Obama, Military Spending, American Imperialism, US Military Spending, Israel Gaza, Politics News
John W. Whitehead

Clearly, what the world desperately needs from America and its new president is a peacemaker, not another warrior.

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Potentially Lethal: Increased Relationship Between Military And Aid

Virginia M. Moncrieff | Posted 01.22.2009 | World

Read More: Usaid, Department of Defense, Elizabeth Ferris, Robert Gates, Afghanistan, Military Spending, Humanitarian Intervention, Catholic Relief Services, American Red Cross, Mercy Corps, Save the Children, Brookings Institution, State Department, Humanitarian Aid, Interaction, US Foreign Policy, Military Civilian, Usaid Policy, World News
Virginia M. Moncrieff

Who will have the final say if U.S. foreign policy and development goals conflict with military objectives in unstable countries?

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