By William D. Hartung, The Arms and Security Initiative
What would you do with $369 million? Me, first I would pay off my student loans, buy a one bedroom apartment in Brooklyn… and then I would still have way more than $368 million to give to the government so they can help the poor, create jobs, build energy efficient homes, fix the roads, keep the water clean… etc.
Want to know what Congress wants to do with $369 million—buy more F-22 fighter planes that no one (except for the executives over at Lockheed Martin) need. And the $369 million number is just a down payment on a new batch of the super expensive (and just to reiterate: completely unnecessary) planes. President Obama has threatened to veto and Pentagon budget that comes to his desk replete with extra Raptors.
RESOURCES FOR MORE INFORMATION
The congressional shenanigans continue and you can follow it blow by blow on the website of Taxpayers for Common Sense. http://tinyurl.com/m7m4ym
Women’s Action for New Directions has an action alert on this subject and you can register your outrage and heap your opprobrium by visiting: http://tinyurl.com/nf5rw8
The Arms and Security Initiative has tracked this Raptor Boondoggle for quite a while. Check out some of our resources on the fighter plane to nowhere:
“Should the U.S. Scrap F-22 Raptor?” William D. Hartung and Krista Brewer, Atlanta Journal Constitution, April 8, 2009 http://tinyurl.com/lf95bh
William Hartung Testimony Before House Armed Services Committee Analyst to Tell Congress Where to Find $35 Billion in Savings from Pentagon Budget April 1, 2009 http://tinyurl.com/mrn69n
“Pentagon’s Unwanted Projects in Earmarks” By R. Jeffrey Smith and Ellen Nakashima, Washington Post, March 8, 2009 http://tinyurl.com/cz9eja
“Defense Doesn’t Need Stimulus” William D. Hartung and Christopher Preble, Washington Times, January 28, 2009 http://tinyurl.com/nwbpe5
“Military Spending and Employment: The Case of the F-22” A New America Foundation Issue Brief By William D. Hartung, February 25, 2009 http://tinyurl.com/l8ghpn
