You have no doubt heard of the Democrats’ imminent collapse on the budget, apparently willing to entertain negotiations with Republicans on a no-strings budget supplemental for our double wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, (gosh, are we still at war both places, ’cause I thought we’d won those wars, or do we need to introduce a new concept for Republican led wars - the non-victory victory), in exchange for more domestic spending.

Well, I am happy and gratified to announce that those negotiations appear to have collapsed. And you’ll never guess why. Or maybe you just might be able to figure it out on your own.  Read more 

This is shocking, in a way. Or rather, you’d think racist, fear-addicted Republican types would make more of a stink over it. The money quote:

“This is gutting the criminal program. Incomprehensible. Just plain dumb,” said one recently retired top FBI official who requested anonymity.
…
FBI insiders, reciting a litany of concerns, such as public corruption, violent crime and mortgage fraud, say the criminal program already has been cut to the bone.

“They are beyond looking at any body fat,” one said. “They are lopping off limbs.”

But wait, it gets worse:  Read more 

Lambert wonders why the Dems are going to give Bush another $200B for his war, and I do too. It seems…pointless and stupid. Worse, it’s costing you a great deal, in terms of the social programs you’re not getting. This is the federal budget. I don’t think it includes war expenditures (I’m very stupid when it comes to economics and finances, forgive me if I’m reading it wrong). Here’s the important part, in billions:

Discretionary budget authority: 06 07 change %
Department of Defense 410.8 439.3 28.5 6.9%
Homeland Security 32.1 33.1 1.0 3.3%
Other
Operations of Government 400.4 398.3 ?2.2 ?0.5%

When I say “we’ve already bought Universal Single Payer Health Care and wasted it in Iraq,” I’m speaking factually. The entire budget for non-military things is barely the cost of a couple of years of war in Iraq. Which neither Democrats or Republicans seem to want to end. Gosh, with numbers like these, I wonder why?  Read more 

No, really. No one.

hrough April 2006, DOD has reported about $273 billion in incremental costs for GWOT-related operations overseas—costs that would not otherwise have been incurred. DOD’s reported GWOT costs and appropriated amounts differ generally because DOD’s cost reporting does not capture some items such as intelligence and Army modular force transformation. Also, DOD has not yet used funding made available for multiple years, such as procurement and military construction. GAO’s prior work found numerous problems with DOD’s processes for recording and reporting GWOT costs, including long-standing deficiencies in DOD’s financial management systems and business processes, the use of estimates instead of actual cost data, and the lack of adequate supporting documentation. As a result, neither DOD nor the Congress reliably know how much the war is costing and how appropriated funds are being used or have historical data useful in considering future funding needs.  Read more 

I had a lovely day yesterday with some activists from Michigan Citizen Action and a mess of other folks who thought to have some fun out front of the local Republican congresscritter’s home office. He’s particularly horrid, and also a coward.  Read more 

Because in my dictionary, “military” is not the same thing as “government.” From Congressional Quarterly:
Bush Budget Trims Domestic Programs, Seeks $245 Billion for War
By Steven T. Dennis and Liriel Higa, CQ Staff

President Bush’s $2.9 trillion budget proposal for fiscal 2008 squeezes Medicare and other domestic programs in favor of tax cuts and a continued buildup in military spending.

The budget sent to Congress Monday proposes significant policy changes to restrain Medicare, Medicaid and other entitlement spending and a near-freeze in domestic discretionary spending as part of a plan to balance the budget by fiscal 2012.

War costs would continue to mount, with Bush seeking an additional $245 billion for fiscal 2008 and the remainder of fiscal 2007. And the regular budget for the Department of Defense would climb by 11 percent to $481.4 billion.

The president’s proposed budget, the first of his tenure to face a Democratic-controlled Congress, includes $929.8 billion in discretionary spending, up $57 billion or 6.5 percent, not including war costs. All but $3.6 billion of the discretionary spending increase would go to security-related spending, leaving a 1 percent increase for domestic accounts. That is well below the anticipated rate of inflation, resulting in a decrease in “real” dollars.  Read more 

So when I read about stuff like this, all I want to do is laugh/cry at the idea that I’m supposed to be paranoid and afraid. Really, this is our money they’re spending, and when they’re not sifting through 50,000 of today’s phone calls about what to order on the pizza and how Aunt Millie’s corns are bothering her again, they’re off chasing cheap women in grungy brothels in Central America? I’m supposed to be impressed?

That said, this is bad:

By Drew Brown
Knight Ridder Newspapers

WASHINGTON - Classified military spending has reached its highest level since 1988, near the end of the Cold War, a new independent analysis has found.

Classified, or “black,” programs now appear to account for about $30.1 billion, or 19 percent, of the acquisition money the Defense Department is requesting for fiscal year 2007, according to Steven M. Kosiak, a defense analyst at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments in Washington, an independent policy-research organization.

The figure is more than double the amount the Pentagon requested in 1995, when classified military acquisition spending reached a post-Cold War low.  Read more