Do the math yourself:
"$1.75 billion.... [of the] $680 billion defense budget bill"
Also see: Meet Your Antiwar New England Liberals
The Obama You Don't Know
You still don't; that one no longer exists.
"President wins on defense spending; With prodding, Senate halts order for F-22 jets" by Bryan Bender, Globe Staff | July 22, 2009
WASHINGTON - President Obama scored a major victory yesterday in his push to reform the Pentagon when the Senate voted to halt production of the Air Force’s top fighter jet, the F-22 Raptor - a rare setback for the nation’s powerful defense industry.
When I drop a penny (at least right now), I'm not too concerned, are you?
I usually think, "let some kid find it and be happy."
The 58-to-40 vote came after an emotional debate about security threats and jobs.
A full-court press by Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates in recent days and the threat of a presidential veto ultimately paid off, persuading some longtime supporters of the program - including Senator John F. Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts - to switch their position and back the president.
Such arguments ultimately swayed Kerry, whose office told the Globe earlier this month he was prepared to support more F-22s. The F-22 program accounts for hundreds of jobs in Massachusetts, where companies supply key components. In addition, Waltham-based
Kerry said in a statement yesterday that he was convinced by Gates that any job losses in the Bay State would be offset by Pentagon plans to accelerate the production of the next-generation combat jet, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which is designed for air-to-air combat and bombing missions for the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps. The $680 billion defense budget bill has money for 30 F-35s....
Other senators from New England, however, had a different view....
Republican senators, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, voted not to strip the F-22 money. In Connecticut, Independent Joseph Lieberman and Democrat Chris Dodd also backed more F-22s. But the two senators from New Hampshire, where at least 1,400 jobs at
Massachusetts’ other senator, Democrat Edward M. Kennedy, voted in favor of the F-22 funding in committee, but was absent from yesterday’s vote. Rhode Island’s two senators, Democrats Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, voted to cut the money, as did Vermont’s Patrick Leahy and Bernard Sanders.
Dodd, speaking for many senators who support more F-22s, said during the floor debate yesterday that the livelihoods of thousands are on the line....
And THEREFORE, INNOCENT PEOPLE MUST DIE upon the ALTAR of U.S. EMPIRE and MILITARISM!!!!
Other F-22 backers, including Republican Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, where Lockheed Martin builds the plane, made their arguments on security grounds, contending that the nation needs more F-22s to ensure that it maintains “air superiority’’ against potential enemies such as China that are modernizing their air forces. The Pentagon yesterday was buoyed by the vote, especially because many observers had predicted that F-22 supporters would prevail....
Acting lie a quarter of a penny cut is some great victory!
You enjoying the shit-fooleys for lunch, 'murka?
But
But? But what, but what, but what!???
the issue is far from settled. In a final bill to be voted on by both chambers House and Senate appropriations panels will also have their say in crafting a final defense appropriations package.
“The F-22 battle is a long way from over,’’ said John Isaacs, executive director of the Council for a Livable World, a nonpartisan advocacy group that specializes in national security affairs.
How much you wanna bet they get 'em?--more--"
