World-News

Cato Institute
by William D. Hartung and Christopher Preble

01/28/09

As the Obama administration and Congress move forward with a multifaceted economic-stimulus package with a price tag of hundreds of billions of dollars, yet another interest group has staked its claim to a share of those funds — the nation’s defense contractors. The arms lobby and its supporters in the think-tank world have made their case in a series of ads, articles and talking points. Martin Feldstein of the American Enterprise Institute describes defense spending as a ‘great stimulus.’ Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol agrees. Noting that the military was ’spending all kinds of money already,’ Mr. Kristol wondered aloud, ‘If you’re buying 2,000 Humvees a month, why not buy 3,000? If you’re refurbishing two military bases, why not refurbish five?’ Such comments ignore that military spending is supposed to serve one central purpose: advancing U.S. security. The defense budget is not a jobs program, nor should it be...

http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=9914


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



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