Senate Approves Mammoth Defense Bill; Your Medicare Awaits Cuts
The Senate just passed its annual defense policy bill, ensuring a robust military industrial complex will continue to thrive, even as American towns struggle for basic infrastructure. This 'bipartisan' love affair with defense spending consistently outpaces any serious investment in healthcare, education, or climate action. Last year alone, the US allocated roughly $886 billion to defense, while
still debating crumbs for universal healthcare. (Recall HR 1384 'Medicare for All Act' has stalled since 2019, receiving zero such enthusiastic, bipartisan support.) One might wonder if the eagerness to pass such 'mammoth' bills is entirely patriotic. It appears to correlate rather neatly with campaign finance. For example, Senator Inhofe (R-OK), a vocal proponent of increased military spending,
received over $1.7 million from the defense sector throughout his career. (Data from OpenSecrets.org). While we're told there's 'no money' for social safety nets, there always seems to be an endless well for bombs and bullets. How many more domestic crises will be deemed 'too expensive' while the defense budget grows fatter?