The White House proposal requests $534 billion, the largest base budget ever for the DOD, and larger than any Reagan Administration military budget, with a more than seven percent increase over 2015. Requests include $10.6 billion alone for F-35 Fighter Jets, the most expensive, and, many allege, the most problem-plagued, weapons system in U.S. history.
The DOD would receive an additional $51 billion for its Overseas Contingency Operations war fund, even in the face of widespread acknowledgement that the Pentagon uses this money as a “slush fund” for non-war activities.
For example, the U.S. military has more members of the 158 military bands than there are diplomats in the State Department in the U.S. and abroad.
“The Pentagon itself has identified areas where it could cut back on wasteful spending, yet this budget asks for even more than the Pentagon already has.” notes the National Priorities Project (NPP). Altough the President has spoken about the importance of diplomacy before force, but the taxpayer dollars being allocated to war and military in this proposal do not appear to reflect that sentiment.”
This enriched budget will support the costly and rapidly accelerating operations of the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM).
Read the full NPP analysis of the 2016 federal budget and the record increases proposed for the military and war at:
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