There's a bill being presented in the House that will fund the government through the end of March and which will also fund the military through the end of the year. Democrats in the Senate have already declared the bill dead on arrival even if it passes the House.
Think about that. The Pentagon has been left dealing with five week budgets and three week budgets as the incessant wrangling in Washington has forced a series of short term funding for the federal government. There is no way for the Pentagon to engage in long term planning. The Pentagon can't schedule training for some troops if they are not sure they will be able to pay for that training. They also can't buy the needed supplies and equipment if they aren't sure how much money they will have. It reduces the effectiveness of our military to be funded in this way. Much worse, it places our soldiers in danger on the battlefield because the level of their supplies and support is always being questioned. That is a very dangerous course for Congress to follow.
But here's the biggest point: Congress has already agreed on the proper level of funding for the military; it passed the Defense Authorization bill months ago and it was signed by President Trump. The only thing Congress has to do is to appropriate the money to pay for all the expenditures it already authorized. Simply put, there is no dispute about how much the Pentagon should spend. The only thing holding up the DOD appropriation is that the Democrats want to hold funding our military hostage to their cause of the moment (currently reaching agreement on how to deal with illegal aliens). The Democrats are putting that issue above the security of the USA.
When you add in the fact that President Trump already proposed a very fair deal on immigration and the Democrats' response has been just to say no, you realize that the Democrats don't even want to achieve their supposed immigration goal of protecting the DACA participants. They could do that in a flash if they would (a) end the silly green card lottery that picks people at random to enter our country, (b) revise the chain migration rules so that at some point in about ten years the USA would move to a more merit-based system, and (c) fund the building of a wall and better border enforcement. The first two of those conditions have overwhelming public support; the issue of the wall has closely divided the country, but strong border security has great support. Were the Democrats to agree, they would just be reflecting the will of the people, but they won't do it.
It's reckless for the Democrats to take this position. As a nation, the USA needs to fund our military and defend ourselves properly. We should all write to our Congressmen and Senators and tell them to stop the nonsense.
Think about that. The Pentagon has been left dealing with five week budgets and three week budgets as the incessant wrangling in Washington has forced a series of short term funding for the federal government. There is no way for the Pentagon to engage in long term planning. The Pentagon can't schedule training for some troops if they are not sure they will be able to pay for that training. They also can't buy the needed supplies and equipment if they aren't sure how much money they will have. It reduces the effectiveness of our military to be funded in this way. Much worse, it places our soldiers in danger on the battlefield because the level of their supplies and support is always being questioned. That is a very dangerous course for Congress to follow.
But here's the biggest point: Congress has already agreed on the proper level of funding for the military; it passed the Defense Authorization bill months ago and it was signed by President Trump. The only thing Congress has to do is to appropriate the money to pay for all the expenditures it already authorized. Simply put, there is no dispute about how much the Pentagon should spend. The only thing holding up the DOD appropriation is that the Democrats want to hold funding our military hostage to their cause of the moment (currently reaching agreement on how to deal with illegal aliens). The Democrats are putting that issue above the security of the USA.
When you add in the fact that President Trump already proposed a very fair deal on immigration and the Democrats' response has been just to say no, you realize that the Democrats don't even want to achieve their supposed immigration goal of protecting the DACA participants. They could do that in a flash if they would (a) end the silly green card lottery that picks people at random to enter our country, (b) revise the chain migration rules so that at some point in about ten years the USA would move to a more merit-based system, and (c) fund the building of a wall and better border enforcement. The first two of those conditions have overwhelming public support; the issue of the wall has closely divided the country, but strong border security has great support. Were the Democrats to agree, they would just be reflecting the will of the people, but they won't do it.
It's reckless for the Democrats to take this position. As a nation, the USA needs to fund our military and defend ourselves properly. We should all write to our Congressmen and Senators and tell them to stop the nonsense.
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