- Domestic security at the Homeland Security Department and other agencies would go from $30.6 billion in 2005 to $29.6 billion in 2006, a 3 percent drop.
- The Veterans Affairs Department would fall 3.4 percent from $29.7 billion in 2005 to $28.7 billion.
- The Defense Department would grow 5.2 percent to $422.7 billion in 2006, and the Justice Department would increase 4.3 percent to $19.5 billion in 2006.
Is this really a budget that will protect the United States? A lot of people like Bush because he is allegedly "strong on defense", yet he cuts the nations front line defense? Homeland Security controls the coasts, the borders, the airports. Bush may say he's interested in protecting the country, but only so far as it promotes the interests of his rich friends. I wonder how the Department of Defense will spend that money. Lucrative new defense contracts perhaps?
It's not much of a cut, especially since a lot of the expensive airport equipment and training is already in place.
You are right though, if anything that budget should be increasing. You should poke a bee's nest with a stick and then take your shirt off.
err.. for all those kids taking notes, you SHOULDN'T poke a bee's nest...
it'd be nice if all the setup money was already spent and this was only overhead they were maintaining, but it's totally not the case. for one, they've done essentially zilch about protecting/safeguarding the chemical industry infrastructure from sabotage. i'm counting myself lucky that i'm moving from nyc and won't have to worry about a cloud of chlorine gas blowing through my neighborhood soon.
also, they've just announced a big agreement with Russia to safeguard all the various radioactive material in various places around the world (they're just getting to that now??). that costs money.
and then there's the public health measure they've recently announced where they're trying to woo the pharmaceutical industry into developing various drugs to counter biological and chemical attacks.
they've got a lot to spend money on, it seems...