-Caveat Lector- http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20020201/pl/bush_defense_budget_6.html
WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! Friday February 1 8:06 PM ET Bush to Propose $379B Defense Budget By ALAN FRAM, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush (news - web sites) will propose a $379.3 billion Pentagon (news - web sites) budget, which would spend $9.4 billion to battle terrorism, plus extra money for weapons procurement, training and a pay raise for troops, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. The proposal, part of the $2.13 trillion federal budget for next year that the president will release Monday, provides the first detailed glimpse of Bush's vision for defense spending. He and other administration officials already have said defense, domestic security and the economy will be the three top priorities of his spending plan. Bush's plan calls for an increase of $45 billion, or 13.5 percent, over this year's defense total. Bush announced a $48 billion increase last week, but the budget documents use the smaller figure because they include spending this year for some retirement costs that had not been counted earlier. The papers show that Bush envisions the Pentagon's budget growing gradually to $451.4 billion in 2007. When past years' defense budgets are adjusted for inflation, the biggest ever was under President Reagan in 1985, $451.8 billion. ``The budget fulfills President Bush's pledge to win the war against terrorism, defend America and its people, improve quality of life for our men and women in uniform and accelerate a bold transformation of the U.S. military to counter 21st century threats,'' one of the papers says. The proposal, like the rest of the budget, will be considered by Congress. But with a war against terror under way and troops in Afghanistan (news - web sites), lawmakers of both parties are sure to support healthy defense increases this year, even as federal deficits return. ``We support every penny that's necessary to fight terrorism at home and abroad,'' said Thomas Kahn, Democratic staff director of the House Budget Committee. Even so, some congressional officials have privately criticized Bush's proposed increase as providing less than the numbers would make it appear. They say that after money is factored out for inflation, costs of buttressing the military's ailing health-care system and a $10 billion contingency fund that Bush is proposing to cover military operations, little is left to strengthen the Pentagon's war-fighting capabilities. According to the documents, money for fighting terror includes $3 billion for counterterrorism, force protection and domestic security; $1.2 billion to continue combat air patrols over the United States; and extra money for communications, munitions and other items. Bush also wants $68.7 billion for buying weapons and other equipment, more than 10 percent above the roughly $60 billion the Defense Department received last year. Included is $911 million to continue developing the Comanche reconnaissance helicopter. The budget also requests $53.9 billion for research and development, almost 10 percent above this year's total. It includes $7.8 billion for national missile defense research and testing procurement, plus an extra $815 million for development of space-based sensors that can detect missile launches, about the same as this year. The documents say Bush will also propose money for: -A 4.1 percent increase in basic military pay, with the administration considering additional raises for some officers; -A cut in troops' out-of-pocket costs for private housing, from 11.3 percent to 7.5 percent; -Extra spending for costs of training and for the increased operations the services have performed since additional troops were deployed overseas after the Sept. 11 attacks. The budget also is claiming about $9 billion in savings from ``management improvements'' and changes in acquisition procedures, the documents say. In other details obtained by The Associated Press, Bush's budget will also propose: -A $1 billion increase, to $11.35 billion, for grants to states for school districts that have many low-income students. The Title I education program was one of the initiatives that was given extra funds under the school improvement bill that Congress and Bush enacted late last year; -$8.5 billion in grants to states for special education, $1 billion more than was provided this year for programs for handicapped children. *COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational purposes only.[Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ] Want to be on our lists? Write at [EMAIL PROTECTED] for a menu of our lists! Write to same address to be off lists! <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
