On Military Spending, the Establishment’s Inflation Hawks Are Nowhere to Be Found
The House has approved an $850 billion military budget, twice as much as Biden’s stimulus checks cost. Yet somehow, we aren’t getting panicked screeds from corporate pundits about how a massive injection of federal spending is going to turbocharge inflation.
Members of the US Army participate in a military exercise on March 8, 2022, in Adazi, Latvia. (Paulius Peleckis / Getty Images)
Last Thursday, the House approved $850.3 billion in military spending for fiscal year 2023, in a 329-101 vote.
That astronomical amount is $37 billion more than Joe Biden requested and $71 billion more than last year’s bill. If enacted, it would represent a $109 billion spike from Donald Trump’s last military budget and $231 billion from Barack Obama’s final budget.
Among supporters — 180 Democrats and 149 Republicans — Russia and inflation were two of the most popular justifications for the increase. Both are flimsy rationales.
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