House Bucks President on Spending for Military

New York Times ^ | July 30, 2009 | Christopher Drew

[jazusamo]

WASHINGTON — The House on Thursday approved President Obama’s plan to kill the F-22 fighter jet. But Democratic leaders bucked White House veto threats on other programs, and they heatedly rejected a Republican effort to strip more than 550 earmarked expenditures from the $636 billion military bill.

Mr. Obama and other political leaders had hailed last week’s vote in the Senate to cancel the F-22 as a sign of their progress in changing military spending practices.

But in sometimes tense exchanges on the House floor on Thursday, two Republicans, Representatives Jeff Flake of Arizona and John Campbell of California, sought to embarrass some other representatives and to suggest that little had changed in how Congress pushes pet military projects.

While the House voted 269 to 165 to approve an amendment that stripped out money for building more F-22s, it overwhelmingly rejected efforts by Mr. Flake and Mr. Campbell to cut up to $2.7 billion in earmarks, including money that lawmakers had inserted on behalf of specific companies on 553 smaller projects.

The bill also included more than $1 billion to continue work on larger projects the administration wants to kill, like a new presidential helicopter, and nearly $1.2 billion for combat planes that the Pentagon did not request.

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“That simply doesn’t look right,” Mr. Flake said, adding that the House “ought to want to have a higher standard.”

Mr. Murtha, who put together the bill as the chairman of the House military appropriations subcommittee, defended the practice and lashed out at Mr. Flake.

Good for Jeff Flake, he's not backing off on earmarks or Murtha's corruption.

[jazusamo]

Please bump the Freepathon and donate if you haven’t done so!

[Rodebrecht]

I’m surprised Obama doesn’t want a new presidential helicopter. I would have figured he’d insist his Marine One would be gold-plated.

[FreeSmart]

Defense pork is still pork: we need more reps like Flake

[jazusamo]

Absolutely...Far too many Reps. use defense earmarks and no bid contracts to bring small companies or offices of large companies to their districts to supposedly bring jobs in order to buy votes and receive large campaign contributions from the company officers and employees.

Murtha is the king of this type scam but their are many more that have learned well from him.