Contrast Biden’s big defense budget: ‘It was a mistake’

Progressives have grown accustomed to frustration with the Biden administration — and now the Defense Department’s proposed increased spending and law enforcement are prompting them to voice their displeasure again with just a few months left. before the 2022 election.

President Biden on Monday proposed $813 billion in funding for the Department of Defense, up about $30 billion from last year’s already hated defense budget. He also proposed more than $32 billion in new spending to expand law enforcement and fight crime.

The president’s budget proposals are not usually what will ultimately be funded, but budget proposals are seen as a way of signaling the administration’s priorities for the next financial year.

“A budget is a statement of values,” Biden said in a released White House statement accompanying his 2023 wish list.

Progressives are quick to note that those “values” have differed greatly from their initiatives, many of which have been repeatedly pushed aside in favor of more focused policies. .

“If budgets are valid statements, then today’s White House proposal on Pentagon spending shows that we still have a lot of work to do,” said Pramila, Congressional Radical Senior Council Chair. Jayapal (D-WA), Representatives Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Mark Pocan (D-WI) wrote in a statement Monday night.

“It was a mistake,” Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) told The Daily Beast. “I think there’s a lot of investment in overcompensating for an optical system that we’re actually engaging in harming.”

Jayapal told reporters it was “unconscionable” that lawmakers often determined there wasn’t enough money to fund education or childcare reform, “and somehow all those Those concerns all disappear when it comes to budgeting – defense spending.”

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) wrote in a statement that “we already spend more on the military than the next 11 countries combined, no, we don’t need a massive increase in the defense budget.”

Criticism of the progressives’ priorities for defense and policing piled on top of repeated hits to the left wing over the past year. A rebuilding social spending package is better than no road ahead. Student debt hasn’t been canceled — and payments will begin again soon. The child tax credit appears to be forgotten from the Democratic Party agenda. Climate laws are gone.

While the budget itself isn’t usually a hot topic in the polls, enthusiasm from progressives is important to the Democratic outlook — and will matter in November. this when the party is desperate to stay in power.

However, other Democrats say the proposed defense cuts will not work well in today’s political climate.

House Budget Chairman John Yarmuth (D-KY), who is retiring this term, said he sees potential for progress as opposed to the president’s proposed increase — but said calling for cuts Defense spending would be a “disconnect” between lawmakers and some “real-world realities.”

America’s stance on national security has changed dramatically over the past month, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine prompted the deployment of US troops to neighboring NATO countries. Congress just a few weeks ago also approved a humanitarian and military aid funding package for Ukraine, prompting some progressive parties to express a pause on the level of military weapons passed.

Yarmuth also said the intention to raise wages for servicemen as part of the spending increase would make it difficult for some progressive parties to oppose the measure.

“So it will be controversial. It’s always been controversial,” he told The Daily Beast.

And GOP lawmakers, for their part, have accused Biden of not going far enough with his gains. Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) said: “This budget ignores the full accounting for historical inflation. “The Pentagon’s inflation assumptions for 2023 are almost certainly low, and the budget doesn’t offset the current record inflation rate.”

The increase in law enforcement spending is another blow to progressives, who watched as police reform legislation stalled in Congress.

Not to mention Biden’s remarks at the State of Union last month emphasizing that lawmakers should “fund the police,” rather than “dismiss,” as progressive activists have suggested.

“We should all agree: The answer is not to offend the police. It’s to fund the police. Sponsor them. Sponsor them. Fund them with resources and training,” he said.

The line is hated by progressives. Representative Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) told reporters in the days after Biden’s speech that the emphasis was completely wrong.

“You know, you mean ‘police funding,’ which is cool. But you also talk about police accountability,” he said.

House Democratic Chairman Hakeem Jeffries told The Daily Beast he agreed with Biden’s outreach goals to “strengthen the relationship between police and the community,” but added that accountability is essential when “when police officers cross the line and engage in despicable behavior.”

The budget proposal is not without olive branches on the progressive left, like the demand for a reduction in immigration detention beds.

Still, the progressives still seem prepared to handle it with the administration, especially on defense spending increases, even as the party’s views on internal struggles continue to cloud. Democratic Party outlook in November. Jayapal, Lee and Pocan added that they plan to “campaign vigorously against this military spending proposal” as in previous years.

“It’s frustrating.” Jayapal told The Daily Beast about the increase in defense spending. “Because if you try to have this conversation… No amount is enough. I guess so.”