Most people in America agree that defunding the police is a crazy idea but the Congressional Progressive Caucus are taking things to a whole new level, they want to dufund the military, and Bernie Sanders will be leading the charge.
Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis, co-chair of the caucus said that they are looking to strip some of the $740 billion designated for the National Defense Authorization Act.
“I see this as an organizing campaign around the size of the defense budget,” Pocan said. “Next year may be the best chance, with a Democratic president and maybe a Democratic Senate, so we really are going to do everything we can this time.”
The Intercept reported that Bernie Sanders is eyeing up a 14% cut and move that money to “high-poverty” areas.
The draft text of Sanders’s amendment, it would apply a blunt 14% cut to all of the accounts authorized by the bill except for Defense Department and military payroll, and the Defense Health Program.
The cuts would add up to about 10% of the bill’s top line, bringing the total authorized spending down by $74 billion.
The savings would then be used to establish a Treasury Department grant program, which would allow local and county governments to apply for money to be spent in “high-poverty” areas. The text lists building public housing, community health centers, and schools; decontaminating drinking water; and payroll for teachers, among other listed “permissible uses,” and prohibits the money from being spent on prisons.
“What this amendment is about is saying it is time to fundamentally change our national priorities,” Bernie Sanders said in a statement. “In the midst of the worst public health crisis in over 100 years and the most severe economic downturn since the Great Depression, we do not need to authorize $740.5 billion in bombs, weapons, fighter jets and endless wars.”
The Dems are aware that the bill won’t pass under the current circumstances but, they are hoping to cut even more funding in the event that former Vice President Joe Biden is elected.
So as it appears, not only do Democrats want to defund our police, they also want to cripple our military.
