Joe Wilson is outraged that domestic government programs are “unsustainable”, but how sustainable is the military? The military creates huge amounts of material that is simply blown up, run through, and cast away.

Cecil Bothwell, who is campaigning to succeed Heath Shuler as the representative of North Carolina’s 11th congressional district, has applied for an endorsement by the Progressive Democrats of America. One of the most significant items in Bothwell’s agenda, as identified in his application to the PDA, is the reduction of wasteful spending through the military.

Only 2.93 percent of respondents say that “Strengthening the U.S. military” is a top priority. However, 88.12 percent of respondents so far say that “Reducing the influence of lobbyists and special interest groups in Washington” is a “top priority”.

The U.S. House of Representatives schedules one hearing on how to help corporations profit from big government spending on the military, and then two hours later, schedules another hearing on how awful it is that the President has to increase the debt ceiling because of out of control spending.

The Udall Amendment would have removed the legislation’s unconstitutional power of imprisonment without criminal charge. This afternoon, that amendment failed to pass. It was rejected by a coalition of Republicans and Democrats who have become comfortable with the existence of totalitarian government powers. The vote wasn’t even close: 37 for Udall’s protection of American freedom, 61 opposed to the Udall amendment, and 2 senators who didn’t show up to vote.

Congressman James McGovern has introduced H.R. 3368, a bill that would revoke authorization for the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, effectively closing it down. 21 members of the House of Representatives, all Democrats, have signed their names as cosponsors of this legislation so far.

Last week, U.S. Representative Michael Michaud sent a letter to President Barack Obama and sponsored legislation to end the U.S. military’s use of sweatshop shoes. As Michaud explained in his letter, the Department of Defense has recently begun sneaking around the rule that its sneakers must be made in the USA by shuffling money to [...]

Civilian programs are much more cost effective than military ones. Yet, the U.S. government has spent as much on civilian programs in two years as it spends on military programs in Afghanistan in just one week.

With the Republicans in control of the House of Representatives, it’s even less likely that the Stop Outsourcing Security Act will be passed and signed into law. However, the need is even greater than it was last year. Last year, there were 22,000 mercenaries hired by the USA in Iraq and Afghanistan. This year, there are more than 28,000.

Out of the 239 Republican members of the House of Representatives, 227 voted in favor of this obstructionist amendment that seeks to prolong discrimination in an arm of the federal government. 9 Republicans, however, had the good sense to see Huelskamp’s effort for what it was.