Democrats Back Massive Pentagon Budget For War and Repression
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2018/06/23/pers-j23.html
"...Senate Democrats joined Republicans this week to approve a massive expansion of the US military as demanded by President Donald Trump. Congressional action on the near record Pentagon budget is taking place behind a veil of silence, with no public discussion and virtually no media coverage.
The so-called 'John S McCain National Defense Authorization Act For Fiscal Year 2019', which passed the Senate 85-10 Monday after having been approved by the House of Representatives in May, allocates $716 billion for the Defense Department, an increase of $82 billion.
The increase alone is larger than the total budget of the Department of Education, approximately $70 b. It is also larger than the annual military budget of Russia (61 billion). The increase in the Pentagon's spending between 2017 and 2019, $165 billion, is larger than the entire defense budget of China.
Just over one third of the Pentagon's annual budget, or $265 billion, could end world hunger, according to figures from the Stockholm Peace Institute. Another third, or $239 billion, would provide primary and early secondary education for the entire world population.
Instead these vast sums are squandered on building and deploying the tools of mass murder..."