Left I on the News

The House voted yesterday for a new defense bill. Note how AP covers this event:

The House's $459.6 billion version of the defense budget, approved on a 395-13 vote, would add money for equipment for the National Guard and Reserve, provide for 12,000 additional soldiers and Marines, and increase spending for defense health care and military housing.

I'm surprised they didn't mention the vote included money for puppies and apple pie for the soldiers, too. The fact that 99% of this $459.6 billion does not go for "equipment for National Guard and Reserves" or "defense [sic] health care or military housing" goes unmentioned; only the fact that the money provided for 12,000 additional soldiers (and note that only 13 House members voted against that and the entire budget) is the only indication this money is actually for war. Much later, we do learn that this money "represents a nearly $40 billion increase over current levels" and includes money for "major weapons systems such as the next generation Joint Strike Fighter and the F-22 Raptor fighter jet."

Oh, and as if you didn't know, "The measure does not include Bush's 2008 funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan," which at the current rate of spending, should add up to another $140 billion or so.