And The War Machine Rolls On

Wow, he admitted it. Bush basically agreed that his war is a Works Progress Administration laundered through the defense industry.

CURRY: You don’t agree with that? It has nothing do with the economy, the war — spending on the war?

BUSH: I don’t think so. I think actually the spending in the war might help with jobs…because we’re buying equipment, and people are working. I think this economy is down because we built too many houses and the economy’s adjusting.

This isn't untrue at all. The bloated, outsized defense budget is being propped up by wars and threats of wars. It's how the Air Force can claim that $144 billion is not enough of a budget and that they need more for things like "dorm furnishings". If members of Congress object they want us to lose the war on terror. The Air Force can ask for more F-22 fighter jets because they can fearmonger about the threat of "emerging powers" like China, which is simply nuts, and simply a way to justify a weapons system that is absolutely unnecessary.

There is virtually no check on the war machine. The perfect example is the Bush Administration announcing a crackdown on contractor abuse with a loophole so big you can drive a Naval carrier group through it.

A Bush administration plan to crack down on contract fraud has a multibillion-dollar loophole: The proposal to force companies to report abuse of taxpayer money will not apply to work overseas, including projects to secure and rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan.

For decades, contractors have been asked to report internal fraud or overpayment on government-funded projects. Compliance has been voluntary, and over the past 15 years the number of company-reported fraud cases has declined steadily.

Now, the Justice Department wants to force companies to notify the government if they find evidence of contract abuse of more than $5 million. Failure to comply could make a company ineligible for future government work.

The proposed rules, which are in the final approval stages, specifically exempt "contracts to be performed outside the United States," according to a notice published last month in the Federal Register.

There are some hardcore regulations!

It's not that the military doesn't require funding and equipment, especially after years of war. It's that the expenditures are completely misplaced, going to contractors who police themselves and outdated weapons systems instead of what the troops need to save their lives.

Hundreds of U.S. Marines have been killed or injured by roadside bombs in Iraq because Marine Corps bureaucrats refused an urgent request in 2005 from battlefield commanders for blast-resistant vehicles, an internal military study concludes.

The study, written by a civilian Marine Corps official and obtained by The Associated Press, accuses the service of "gross mismanagement" that delayed deliveries of the mine-resistant, ambush-protected trucks for more than two years.

We've known that MRAP vehicles are a priority for quite a while now. I don't know if it's not cost-effective or what. The point is that the war machine is self-sustaining. And as you can see from the Speaker of the House's criticisms of the Bush budget, this is a bipartisan problem. There are enough defense contractors spread around virtually every district in the country to give members of Congress a self-interest in keeping the status quo. The Republicans go on and on about government waste and earmarks (not the President's own earmarks, mind you), the Democrats talk about misplaced priorities, but that defense budget is sacrosanct. And until we change that dynamic, the bill we give to our children and grandchildren will not be substantially smaller.