On Tuesday, December 10th, the Senate voted to pass a bipartisan $758 billion defense policy bill. The 86-8 vote passed with flying colors and is one of the most expensive military measures in United States history. Some new measures in the bill are a 3% increase in pay for troops and authorization for Trump's Space Force, a new sixth branch of the American military. The bill also included Democratic priorities, such as 12 week paid paternal leave for civilian employees. The bill was then sent to President Trump, who signed it, causing the bill to go into effect.
The new measure also includes opposition to projects from foreign governments including Russia, Turkey, and China. For instance, one measure includes sanctions to resist construction of the Russian Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which purpose is to reduce reliance on Ukraine to deliver gas to Europe. Another measure would prevent Turkey from obtaining American F-35 fighter jets. Foreign Minister of Turkey, Mevlut Cavusoglu has threatened sanctions to the United States in response. In action against China, the bill prohibits the commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross, from removing the Chinese company Huawei from a entity-list, which bans American corporations from contributing to foreign companies that are deemed potential security threats, which Huawei was put on for concerns of them spying on Americans via their devices.
Democrats had extensive efforts to include provisions meant to limit the president's power, especially on military matters. For instance, after failure to include many of these provisions, they attempted to restrict powers relating to declaring war and relocating military construction fund to pay for the wall on the southern border. These provisions were eventually dropped after much opposition from Republicans.
The bill has a significant to foreign policy as many of the sanctions provided could lead to worse relationships with these governments and more sanctions against the United States in response. It also has a large impact on the budget, as $758 billion is a lot of money that would lead to further debt and could be used in other areas. Senator Sanders also reflected this grievance, stating “call me a radical, but maybe before funding a new space force, we should make sure no American goes bankrupt because of a medical bill or dies because they can’t afford to go to a doctor on time.”
1. Is $758 billion dollars for a defense policy bill too much? Is spending on the Space Force just a total waste of money? Can it be spent in more important areas or be used to alleviate debt?
2. Are the sanctions provided on Turkey and other foreign governments beneficial? Would sanctions on the United States in response make them overall harmful in the long run? Should the United States even be involved in these foreign affairs?
3. Were Democrat's efforts to impose provisions on the president's power in violation of any defined presidential powers in the Constitution? Should Republicans have compromised on some of these provisions?
3. Were Democrat's efforts to impose provisions on the president's power in violation of any defined presidential powers in the Constitution? Should Republicans have compromised on some of these provisions?
We shouldn't be involved in foreign affairs that don't directly affect us!
ReplyDelete1. I think that this amount of money is far too high to be spending on military and defense funding. The idea of a space force seems completely irrational, when Trump aims to cut food stamps to save 8 billion, but wants to throw support into something we don't even have the technology for. Trump's military antics and poor spending will only hurt the deficit rather than help it. If he wants to keep giving tax cuts to the uber rich and hurting those in his rival states, he can't continue with high spending.- Matthew Pilch
ReplyDeleteWhile an absurd defense budget is inevitable, spending $758 million is ridiculous when considering how much funding domestic issues require. The space force is an unnecessary addition to US military presence and doesn't address any seroius threat to national security. However, the increase pay for service men and women is the only beneficial part of the bill,because of the work they do.
ReplyDelete1). 758 Billion dollars is too much money when we need to address problems on our on soil.Spending on space force is a total waste of money because we should spend money to learn more about or solar system. The money should be spent in areas that directly benefit the American people.
ReplyDeleteI love space, but $758,000,000,000 is too much money for a defense bill. The US already spends too much on defense and getting involved in foreign affairs. If the government continues to spend this much money in relatively unimportant areas, the US will never have a balanced budget or pay off its enormous debt.
ReplyDelete-Brendan
Delete1. Spending $758 billion on a defense bill is definitely overkill. We still have a federal deficit of trillions of dollars, and in 2019 alone, the deficit is expected to reach $960 billion. Taking that into account, the government should be focused on decreasing this deficit, instead of trying to prevent other countries from doing things that may not even affect us.
ReplyDelete$758 billion is too much money for a defense bill. As it is the government has already put in a lot of money towards the defense, it is unnecessary to put more money towards a space force when we should focus on more important areas. Such as Sanders mentioned, the healthcare system should be prioritized over the defense. Focus on our problems at home rather than defense.
ReplyDeleteAlthough this bill is for national security, keeping Turkey from obtaining American fighter jets, this could negatively affect the US-Turkey relationship in the long run. The government has already spent around $600 billion on defense so this is definitely adding to our deficit. Putting restrictions like this on a country can worsen the relationship and harm any chance of having an ally.
ReplyDelete1. Spending $758 million on a defense policy bill is absolutely outrageous, and is far to much. With an amount like this, it will certainly add to our national debt. This amount, or less should be spent in other areas of our society rather than space, as a space force wouldn't do much for the American people.
ReplyDeleteI meant $758 billion
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