It is interesting to note that with all the talk of ‘Resistance’ and impeachment of President Trump coming from the Democrat side of the aisle in Washington DC, when it comes to legislation and run-away spending bills – there seems to be little or no resistance to Trump’s agenda of militarizing US society and deploying more US assets to various foreign bases, and even into outer space.
The vote count in the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives was an incredible 377-48, sending the legislation on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to the Republican-controlled Senate where it will surely be passed this week, after which time Trump will sign it into law.
Some of the authoritarian measures contained in this bill are truly harrowing. In addition, the $738 billion defense bill continues the illegal US-led war in Yemen, as well as funding for his controversial US-Mexico border wall, and Trump’s new ‘Space Force,’ all as the Democrats are threatening to impeach the President for among other things, “threatening US national security.”
For the Democratic leadership, when it comes to big government spending and the burgeoning fascist police state which is being erected in America – what Trump wants, Trump gets.
Common Dreams reports….
More than 180 House Democrats joined a nearly united Republican caucus Wednesday night to pass a sweeping $738 billion military spending bill that gives President Donald Trump his long-sought “Space Force,” free rein to wage endless wars, and a green light to continue fueling the humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen.
Just 48 members of the House, including 41 Democrats, voted against the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which increases the Pentagon budget by $22 billion. The final vote was 377-48.
“This NDAA is atrocious, and it’s very depressing that only 48 members of congress voted against it,” tweeted anti-war group CodePink.
In a floor speech ahead of Wednesday’s vote, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), the most vocal opponent of the NDAA in the House, said “there are many things you can call the bill, but it’s Orwellian to call it progressive.” Khanna was standing across the aisle from Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), who hailed the measure as “the most progressive defense bill we have passed in decades.”
My friend @RepRoKhanna is right: it is Orwellian for Congress to hand over billions of dollars worth of weapons and bombs to a president waging a horrific, unconstitutional war in Yemen—and call that progressive. pic.twitter.com/6SUmUUhv3q
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) December 11, 2019
“Let’s speak in facts,” said Khanna. “This defense budget is $120 billion more than what Obama left us with. That could fund free public college for every American. It could fund access to high-speed, affordable internet for every American. But it’s worse. The bipartisan amendment to stop the war in Yemen: stripped by the White House. The bipartisan amendment to stop the war in Iran: stripped by the White House.”
According to the New York Times, Smith—chairman of the House Armed Services Committee—negotiated several provisions of the NDAA directly with Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser.
“It was Mr. Kushner who helped broker a deal to create the Space Force, a chief priority of the president’s, in exchange for the paid parental leave [for federal employees],” the Times reported Wednesday. “It was also Mr. Kushner who intervened on measures targeting Saudi Arabia that would have prohibited arms sales or military assistance to the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen. He said they were nonstarters for the White House.”
Continue this story at Common Dreams
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