[rad-green] 'Atrocious': 188 Democrats Join GOP to Hand Trump $738 Billion Military Budget That Includes 'Space Force'

*Via Twitter
<https://twitter.com/GunnelsWarren/status/1204948141717504003>:*

*Warren Gunnels*
*@GunnelsWarren*

*New Rule: Every Member of Congress who voted to give the most corrupt,
unhinged & unstable president in history $738 billion to fight endless
wars, fund a bogus space force & put our troops at risk must never tell us
that we cannot afford #MedicareForAll or a #GreenNewDeal. Ever.*

*-------------------*









*https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/12/12/atrocious-188-democrats-join-gop-hand-trump-738-billion-military-budget-includes
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/12/12/atrocious-188-democrats-join-gop-hand-trump-738-billion-military-budget-includes>Common
Dreams          December 12, 2019'Atrocious': 188 Democrats Join GOP to
Hand Trump $738 Billion Military Budget That Includes 'Space Force'"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."by Jake Johnson, staff writer*

*President Donald Trump speaks at the Joint Systems Manufacturer on March
20, 2019 in Lima, Ohio. (Photo: Andrew Spear/Getty Images)*

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.

"Every member of Congress who voted to give the most corrupt, unhinged, and
unstable president in history $738 billion to fight endless wars...must
never tell us that we cannot afford Medicare for All or a Green New Deal."
—Warren Gunnels, Sanders senior adviser

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
<http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2019/roll672.xml>.

"This NDAA is atrocious, and it's very depressing that only 48 members of
congress voted against it," tweeted
<https://twitter.com/codepink/status/1204903711107141634> 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
<https://twitter.com/connorobrienNH/status/1204875760638533632> from Rep.
Adam Smith (D-Wash.), who hailed
<https://twitter.com/RepAdamSmith/status/1204859556452536320> the measure
as "the most progressive defense bill we have passed in decades."

"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
<https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/11/us/politics/house-ndaa-space-force-leave.html>
 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."

Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) foreign policy adviser Matt Duss expressed
outrage that Democrats allowed Kushner—who has close ties to Saudi Crown
Prince Mohammed bin Salman—to kill an amendment that would have helped end
U.S. complicity in the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), who voted against the NDAA, noted in a
statement that the final version also stripped out her House-passed
amendment that would have repealed the 2002 Iraq Authorization for Use of
Military Force (AUMF).

"With the release of the Afghanistan Papers, it is especially imperative
that we take a hard look at our military spending and authorizations," said
Lee, the only member of Congress to vote against the war in Afghanistan in
2001. "I can tell you: it is an appalling, but not shocking read for those
of us who have been working to stop endless war. It's past time to end the
longest war in United States history, withdraw our troops, and bring our
servicemembers home."

The 2020 NDAA now heads to the Republican-controlled Senate, where it is
expected to pass. In a tweet
<https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1204782262912503808> ahead of
the House vote on Wednesday, Trump praised the bill and said he would sign
it into law "immediately."

"New rule: Every member of Congress who voted to give the most corrupt,
unhinged, and unstable president in history $738 billion to fight endless
wars, fund a bogus space force, and put our troops at risk must never tell
us that we cannot afford Medicare for All or a Green New Deal," Warren
Gunnels, Sanders' senior adviser, tweeted
<https://twitter.com/GunnelsWarren/status/1204948141717504003> Wednesday
night. "Ever."

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