President Obama’s 2016 budget proposal left much to be desired, especially when his request for the Department of Defense is the highest in the nation’s history at $534 billion. This doesn’t include additional funding for war, nuclear weapons in the Department of Energy, and other national security areas, bringing the grand total of national defense discretionary spending to $612 billion. That’s $38 billion over Budget Control Act caps instituted by the sequester.
It is irresponsible to remove the caps imposed by the Budget Control Act for military, but not for other programs within discretionary spending. Although Obama’s budget would increase education funding to include the new free community college program and funding to address climate change, it’s not enough to reverse the damage that has been done. The priorities of the American people are not reflected in the President’s budget, and it’s time we made some changes to ensure that it does.
We can start by removing the additional 19 F-35 fighter jets that are included in the base budget of the Department of Defense. This plane is still years behind schedule and billions over budget and any engineer could tell you that the it’s a complete mess. Instead of investing in a broken plane, we could use that money to cover the price tag of the free community college program or fixing our broken bridges.
Additionally, the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) account has got to go. At $51 billion, this money is loosely ear-marked for war costs, and has been a source of added slush to the Pentagon for years. The war in Afghanistan is concluding, and it’s time to conclude this account as well. Our war on terror and the money thrown at it is responsible for the formation of ISIL. It makes no sense then that continuing to fund this fight will provide any viable results.
As the budget moves forward and goes through the scrutiny of the Congress and Senate, it’s important to continue to speak out for our priorities and a budget that reflects them. If the previous years’ Ryan budget is any indication, we already know that the priorities of the Republican-led Congress do not align with ours, so our voices matter now more than ever.
For a more detailed analysis of President Obama’s 2016 budget request, check out the work of the National Priorities Project, including their 2016 President’s Budget in Pictures.
We also encourage everyone to make their voice heard. Tell your neighbors, tell your co-workers why you feel the federal budget could be better. Write a letter to your local paper (and for those having a hard time getting started, check out this LTE action through Win Without War).
