More Federal Budget Shenanigans

Fred Kaplan offers an excellent analysis of the Bush military budget over at Slate.com.

Here's an excerpt:

It's time for our annual game: How much is really in the U.S. military budget?

As usual, it's about $200 billion more than most news stories are reporting. For the proposed fiscal year 2009 budget, which President Bush released today, the real size is not, as many news stories have reported, $515.4 billion—itself a staggering sum—but, rather, $713.1 billion.

Before deconstructing this budget, let us consider just how massive it is. Even the smaller figure of $515.4 billion—which does not include money for fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan—is roughly equal to the total military budgets of all the rest of the world's nations combined. It is (adjusting for inflation) larger than any U.S. military budget since World War II.

But wait -- there's even more insanity when you look at Bush's proposals for the VA budget. From the Democratic Policy Committee report:

While the requested medical care budget is $2 billion above Fiscal Year 2007 levels, after factoring in health care inflation and increased patient utilization rates, it amounts to a mere .14 percent increase over lastyear's allocation. This minimal and inadequate increase raises real concerns about whether the proposed budget will be able to meet the demands of new enrollees or allow for vital new initiatives, including enhancements to mental health services for OIF/OEF veterans.

Among other slaps, veterans will face increased co-pays (nearly doubled for middle-income veterans) and increased enrollment fees. Revenues from these changes won't be reinvested in the VA to improve care. Instead, it will be shifted to the Treasury in a pathetic attempt to balance the budget on the backs of our veterans.

Way to support the troops, Mr. Bush!