#Defense Spending

[mapsontheweb]

Countries which spend more than 4% of their GDP on defence.

by amazing__maps

[tomorrowusa]

^^^ from @visegrád24

Yet another way Putin’s invasion has had the opposite effect.

Putin has been trying to make Russia great again by throwing its military weight around. He has only succeeded in showing the world he commands a third-rate armed forces and has alarmed neighbors into bolstering their own military establishments.

Poland is the latest country in Europe to announce a significant hike in its national security spending. Some others...

Macron: France to hike military spending by a third

Germany To Buy U.S.-Made Fighter Jets As Military Spending Prompted By War In Ukraine Ramps Up

North Macedonia is set to increase its defense budget to $542 million by 2027, says GlobalData

Yes, even North Macedonia (population: 2,130,936) is not taking its security for granted.

After winning the runoff election on Saturday, Czech President-elect Petr Pavel made a call to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy –– one of his first calls after the election.

Russia’s neighbors are not being cowed into submission by Putin’s aggression. Eastern Europe in particular remembers the 40+ miserable years as satellite states of the USSR and wants no repeat.

[notwiselybuttoowell]

Joe Biden and the Democratic party’s climate credentials will be severely undermined if controversial legislation to fast-track energy projects is latched on to a must-pass defense bill, environmental leaders have warned.

Progressive lawmakers and hundreds of climate, public health and youth groups are urging the Democratic leadership to stop the latest attempt by Joe Manchin, the West Virginia fossil-fuel-friendly senator, to force through legislation that would weaken environmental protections and expedite permits and construction of pipelines and other fossil fuel infrastructure while restricting public input.

According to the White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, Biden supports including Manchin’s deregulation bill in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), an annual appropriations bill that will be voted on later this week. The final text of the proposed bill has not yet been published, but if pushed through as an appendage, it would lead to a sweeping decline in environmental protections and public participation without having been debated or scrutinized in committee hearings.

On Tuesday, more than 750 organizations sent a letter to the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, and congressional leadership opposing what they call a “cruel and direct attack on environmental justice communities”. If Pelosi permits the attachment of the dirty deal to the NDAA, it will be one of her final acts as speaker and threatens her credibility on climate, the groups said.

Manchin, who receives more campaign donations from the fossil fuel industry than any other lawmaker, also wants to limit legal challenges to new energy projects including the 303-mile Mountain Valley gas pipeline across the Appalachian mountains that has been stalled by concerned communities and environmental groups in West Virginia and Virginia.

Rashida Tlaib, the Democratic congresswoman from Michigan, called on her colleagues to stand up against the fossil fuel industry and the undemocratic manner in which leadership was trying to push through the bill without scrutiny. “It’s outrageous enough that Congress wants to spend another $847bn on our military-industrial complex, the largest annual military budget in history; we cannot allow them to then ram through Manchin’s dirty deal in the process.”

Tlaib urged her colleagues to also vote no. “We cannot again remain silent while the fossil fuel industry continues to pollute our neighborhoods and sacrifice the health of our residents for their own endless greed,” she said.

Manchin’s bill, described by environmentalists as a “fossil fuel wishlist”, was first attached as a side deal to Biden’s historic climate bill, the Inflation Reduction Act, but was eventually thwarted after widespread opposition from progressive Democrats and civil society groups.

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Sen. Rick Scott is urging Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and other Republicans to respect the incoming House GOP majority and block a yearlong budget deal.

Scott, a Florida Republican who challenged McConnell for Senate GOP leader last month, told Fox News Digital that it would be improper to ignore the objections of House Republicans and help Democrats pass a budget deal that funds the government until next October.

"I think we should support the Republicans in the House, they have a majority," said Scott. "They've asked for the opportunity to lead on this next Congress, and we should support a [short-term] budget bill that gives them that opportunity."

Earlier this week, House and Senate appropriators reached a nearly $1.7 trillion budget deal to fund the government until the end of September 2023. It is slated to include more than $858 billion for defense spending, while appropriating $787 billion for domestic spending and additional aid for Ukraine.

Lawmakers are likely to approve the budget deal next week, but they will need to first pass a one-week government funding bill before Friday to avert a shutdown.

The final budget will require at least 10 GOP supporters to overcome the 60-vote filibuster threshold within the evenly split Senate. Given that reality, House Republicans say McConnell should only approve a short-term government funding bill that runs until mid-January.

The timeline would give Republicans more leverage in budget negotiations since the party is set to control the House of Representatives.

McConnell has not ruled out passing a short-term funding bill, saying that yearlong budget would require Democrats to abandon partisan poison pills.

"If a truly bipartisan full-year bill without poison pills is ready for final Senate passage by late next week, I’ll support it for our Armed Forces," McConnell said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "Otherwise, we’ll be passing a short-term continuing resolution into the new year."

"A month ago, the American people voted for a new direction in Washington," said House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, the GOP's choice for Speaker next Congress. Yet "we've got two members leading appropriations in the Senate who will no longer be here [come January] or be able to be held accountable to their constituents."

McCarthy has said that a GOP-controlled House would force President Joe Biden and the Democrat-run Senate to offer bigger concessions on spending and White House policy in exchange for a budget.

Not everyone believes that will be the case, however. House Republicans will only hold a narrow majority next Congress with hard-line conservatives eager to shut down the government over policy differences and impeach Biden appointees.

"We've been here before during the Tea Party era," said a Senate Republican aide. "The House will grumble about being left out, but they haven't proven themselves as capable of governing either."

McConnell has argued that with Democrats in control of Congress and the White House, Republicans are limited in what they could do.

"We’re on defense," said McConnell. "We’re dealing with the cards that we were dealt."

McConnell also said that despite not being in the majority, Republicans were able to exert influence over the budget. Democrats initially wanted to boost domestic spending over defense but were forced to back down due to GOP opposition.

"Given the fact Democrats have the Presidency, the House and the Senate, to meet our defense number and to not pay any bonus to the Democrats on the domestic side … is far and away the best we could do given the fact that we don’t control the floor or the government," said McConnell.

Scott said that allowing a GOP House to exert its leverage next Congress is more optimal.

"They have a majority," said Scott. "I support their efforts to lead on this next Congress."

Allies of McCarthy say that even if every single House Republican could not be counted on to back a budget deal next year, the new majority would still have significant power.

"Biden would be forced to accept a budget deal that is less favorable simply because McCarthy could refuse to bring anything else to the floor," a House GOP aide told Fox News Digital.

"Even if 5 to 10 wayward Republicans did not fall in line, enough House Democrats would back the deal and avert a government shutdown if Biden was forced to accept it. This is negotiating 101."

[joeywreck]

Only a country with a fascist government could get away with this.

[ivygorgon]

Please cut wasteful Pentagon spending now!

AN OPEN LETTER to THE PRESIDENT & U.S. CONGRESS

887 so far! Help us get to 1,000 signers!

I am a constituent who believes the failure to control wasteful Pentagon spending makes it harder to meet our country’s needs. The U.S. spends more on the military than any other country in the world, yet we repeatedly fail to spend the required amount of funds on food, housing, health care, and education that our communities need.

Recently, the DoD failed its audit for the sixth time in a row when it failed to account for $1.9 trillion―half its $3.8 trillion budget.

The Department of Defense is the only federal agency that has never passed a full audit and they didn’t even complete audits until 2018.

As your constituent, I am asking you to cut wasteful Defense spending in FY 2025 government funding bills.

Federal dollars that go to wasteful Department of Defense contracts are funds that do not go to meet human needs. One-third to one-half of the Pentagon budget goes to corporate military contractors that drastically price gouge the DoD by as much as 40%.

Trillions of dollars spent―and unaccounted for―undermine our security by preventing us from investing in the shared prosperity that comes from more housing, climate and public health protections, ending hunger, and more education.

Please cut wasteful Pentagon spending and invest that money in vulnerable communities.

▶ Created on April 22 by Jess Craven · 886 signers in the past 7 days

📱 Text SIGN PESFXZ to 50409

🤯 Liked it? Text FOLLOW JESSCRAVEN101 to 50409

[alwayshistory]

G-7 Faces a $10 Trillion Reckoning as the World Races to Re-Arm

The US and its allies are just starting to come to terms with the vast increase in defense spending required to counterbalance the militaries of Russia and China. By Enda Curran, Natalia Drozdiak, and Bhargavi Sakthivel A new era of global rearmament is gathering pace, and it will mean vast costs and some tough decisions for western governments already struggling with shaky public…

[pressnewsagencyllc]

G-7 Faces a $10 Trillion Reckoning as the World Races to Re-Arm

A new era of global rearmament is gathering pace, and it will mean vast costs and some tough decisions for western governments already struggling with shaky public finances. Despite world defense spending reaching a record $2.2 trillion last year, European Union nations have only just begun to consider what 21st-century security will require with an aggressive Russia stirring on their eastern…

[govtshutdown]

Senator Paul's Amendment

They dispensed with debate and went straight to the vote now on Senator Paul's amendment concerning Defense appropriations. Vote now underway

[xtruss]

Milked Dry

— Liu Rui | February 17, 2024

Illustration: Liu Rui/Global Times

[mapsontheweb]

NATO countries that spend the required 2% of their GDP on defense yearly.

by powerfulcountries

[thecapitolradar]

Senate passes defense policy bill void of most GOP culture-war demands

From the article:

No Confederate battle flag, no Kekistan flag, no Nazi flag? What a relief!

Real shame, though, that service members will have to pay to put on their own productions of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, or "South Pacific".

Good-ish job, Senate.

[emperornorton47]

[i-news-you]

In our latest YouTube video, we delve into a critical report from the Strategic Posture Commission, which is sending shockwaves through the realm of international geopolitics. The report highlights the urgent need for the United States to prepare for the possibility of simultaneous wars with both Russia and China.

Tensions with China over Taiwan and escalating conflicts with Russia due to its invasion of Ukraine have set the stage for a potentially dire scenario. The report even raises concerns about possible coordination between Chinese and Russian nuclear weapons, adding a layer of complexity to the situation.

Our video thoroughly explores the key findings of this report, the recommendations it presents, and the implications for the United States and global security. This is a pressing issue that deserves your attention.

Watch our video to gain a comprehensive understanding of this crucial report, and be sure to share it with your friends. Knowledge is power, and staying informed about these critical geopolitical matters is of utmost importance.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more in-depth analysis of the pressing global issues that impact our world. Don't miss out on staying informed and engaged in the world of international affairs.

[roseworth]

ok now im kinda curious