The House of Representatives, in a new defense-spending bill to be voted on by Friday, plans to offer nearly $7 billion in unnecessary equipment and unwanted spending, according to Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
The equipment includes several new ships, helicopters, airplanes and armored vehicles that Gates says the military does not need to complete planned military operations for next year. Gates called the measure “business as usual”.
The total defense-spending bill would cost the government $636 billion for 2010. The White House said the $7 billion of pork might result in a veto of the entire bill, citing a need to cut out “duplicate existing programs” and programs that have “outlived their usefulness” from the proposed bill.
Many lawmakers have steadfastly remained in support of costly equipment purchases due to established relationships with large defense contractors that provide them with fairly sizable campaign contributions.
According to Taxpayers for Common Sense, the bill contains $2.75 billion in spending that is earmarked directly for campaign contributors. “Campaign contributors who gave the subcommittee members $823,000 in campaign contributions raked in 148 earmarks worth $460.9 million (average $3.1 million). The remainder of the earmarks went to some federal (who do not contribute) and other entities,” the organization said.
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