Leftist Elected Officials Should Always Vote No on the Military Budget
It should be a matter of course that self-identified leftist and progressive members of Congress should vote down the annual bloated, dangerous, war-profiteer bonanza that is the military budget.
Bernie Sanders speaks to the media outside of the White House on July 17, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images)
Last week, Senator Bernie Sanders cast a vote that should be expected of all left-leaning politicians in Congress: he voted against giving $886 billion to the Pentagon.
In his speech explaining why he could not support this massive giveaway to the military industrial complex, Sanders noted the urgent domestic problems that should take priority over fattening the already-engorged military-industrial complex: climate change, health care, childcare, education, housing, and the declining life expectancy of the American working class.
Congress, Sanders said, has “partisan fights over all kinds of things.” Yet somehow, every year, he pointed out, there’s “one thing they all agree on: more money for the Pentagon.” He also offered an amendment to cut military spending by 10 percent, which sadly got only eleven votes.
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