Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive Path: netcom.com!netcomsv!decwrl!concert!corpgate!news.utdallas.edu!wupost!howland.reston.ans.net!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!ukma!mont!pencil.cs.missouri.edu!daemon From: ww@blythe.org (Workers World Service) Subject: $28 Billion Black Hole in US Budget Message-ID: <1994Feb13.205638.22269@mont.cs.missouri.edu> Followup-To: alt.activism.d Originator: daemon@pencil.cs.missouri.edu Sender: news@mont.cs.missouri.edu Nntp-Posting-Host: pencil.cs.missouri.edu Organization: NY Transfer News Collective Resent-From: "Rich Winkel" <MATHRICH@MIZZOU1.missouri.edu> Distribution: usa Date: Sun, 13 Feb 1994 20:56:38 GMT Approved: map@pencil.cs.missouri.edu Lines: 62 Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit U.S. Budget: THE $28-BILLION BLACK HOLE Within President Clinton's proposed $1.5-trillion 1995 federal budget lies a mysterious item. It is, according to the Feb. 8 New York Times, "hidden in false line items and deleted passages in the Pentagon's accounts." And it has been this way for over 40 years. We're talking about the annual budget for secret military and intelligence operations. This $28 billion--which is only an "approximation"--is set aside for covert military programs and repressive spy agencies like the Central Intelligence Agency; the National Reconnaissance Office, which builds spy satellites; and the National Security Agency, which conducts electronic eavesdropping. A black hole in space is so dense that not even light can escape from it. This secret budget operates much the same way. Money goes into it, but what it's spent for never sees the light of day. There isn't even Congressional oversight for how the money is used. In fact, an estimated budget wasn't even published until a decade ago. As is to be expected, the Clinton administration is content with this arrangement. Along with his overt support for covert operations, Clinton has shown his admiration for the military-industrial complex by offering the Pentagon $263.7 billion--$3 billion more than last year. While there is certain to be some wrangling among the politicians and military brass over which programs should get the most, overall the Pentagon will once again be awash in money. But don't think Clinton is showing favoritism only to the generals. There are also the big bankers. They're getting $212.8 billion in 1995 in the form of interest payments on the national debt. The capitalist government considers this budget item legally mandatory. All told, almost half-a-trillion dollars are going to the banks and the military! Think about that when the bosses and politicians tell you there's no money for jobs, child care and housing. -30- (Copyright Workers World Service: Permission to reprint granted if source is cited. For more information contact Workers World, 55 West 17 St., New York, NY 10011; via e-mail: ww@blythe.org.) +----------------------------------------------------------------+ + 212-675-9690 NY TRANSFER NEWS COLLECTIVE 212-675-9663 + + Since 1985: Information for the Rest of Us + + e-mail: nyt@blythe.org info: info@blythe.org +