Battling for billions

Washington D.C is awash in battling for billions. The GOP has it's panties in a knot because the Dems had the nerve to want $10 billion for Teachers, and $16 billion for Medicaid money.  A sampling of remarks from the GOP :

Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, R-Florida, contended that it's a "transparent handout to the teachers union" financed partly through "sham accounting gimmicks."

House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, asserted earlier that the "American people don't want more stimulus spending." Boehner was in an orange colored fit over it. 

While they staged their huff about these crumbs..... the other side of the coin-- Gates announcement that the Pentagon will be cutting back $100 billion over the next five years.... these same people slinging terms like  "sham accounting gimmicks." are now in a full tantrum mode about military cutbacks!!!

From the Center for American Progress

" The Pentagon will spend more than $700 billion in the upcoming fiscal year on defense—more than the rest of the world combined and more than at any time in our history except for World War II. The defense budget, exclusive of war costs, has grown in real terms for 13 straight years—the longest period of sustained grown in our nation’s history—and it is now higher than at the height of the Reagan-era buildup. Pentagon spending is the third-largest item in the overall federal budget after Medicare and Social Security and has grown by more than 6 percent since President Obama came into office.

The Pentagon budget will not decline even if all these comparatively small savings come to pass. Gates wants to use these savings to buy more weapons, and that is the key issue that needs to be addressed. Exactly how many more planes, ships, tanks, and strategic nuclear weapons does the Pentagon need and for what purpose? Gates asked why the Navy needs 11 aircraft carriers when the rest of the world has only one. But when pressed on the issue, he said he would not recommend a reduction in the carrier force. That question will obviously have to be answered by a secretary of defense who wants to deal with the big issues."

See?

A big fuss about spending $26 billion on "frivolous" things like education & medicaid....  relative crumbs compared to the $700 billion spent on the military budget, and any cutback there is sacrosanct. Which is why piss ant Boehner launched into this rant: “We are broke. We do not have the money to bail out the states. It’s time for them to get their arms around their own problems.” 

Mike Pence had an interesting doublespeak remark--

“Today, as we speak, hundreds of my constituents who are struggling in this economy are gathered at the 6th Congressional District job fair,” Republican Conference Chair Mike Pence (R-Ind.) said. “It grieves my heart that I have to be here on the floor of the Congress when I could be there encouraging Hoosier families that are out of work.”

Republicans have been calling the measure a boon for special interests at the expense of the taxpayer. Pence dodged a question about whether teachers should be considered special interests."

Pence! Teaching, Police, Fire & Nursing ARE jobs. It grieves your heart you might have to earn your salary & do something FOR the people?