Eric Zuesse: How the U.S. Media Lie About the Debt-Limit Bill

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Written by Eric Zuesse

Military spending consumes 53% of all the money that the Congress and President authorize the Government to spend, but instead of ANY of that 53% getting cut (like social programs for the poor are) in the debt-limit agreement, military spending was increased, and the ‘news’ media hide this fact from the voters.

For example, here is from the Republican Fox ‘News’, on this:

A new bipartisan House commission will be formed to tackle the federal budget’s scope once the battle over the debt ceiling bill falls back, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Wednesday.

“This isn’t the end,” the California Republican said on Fox News about the debt ceiling bill vote. “This doesn’t solve all the problems. This is the first step. I’m going to announce a commission coming forward from the speaker, bipartisan, on both sides of the aisle. We only got to look at 11% of the budget to find these cuts. We have to look at the entire budget.”

He promised Republicans that he’d be aiming to cut the Social Security and Medicare programs. He didn’t so much as even MENTION the 53% of “discretionary spending” (what Congress and the President authorize to be spent) that goes to America’s military.

And here is from the Democratic Party’s CNN ‘News’:

Here’s what we know about the deal, based on the bill text, White House sources and information circulated by House Republicans.

The agreement would suspend the nation’s $31.4 trillion debt limit through January 1, 2025. This removes it as a potential issue in the 2024 presidential election. …

Caps non-defense spending

Under the deal, non-defense spending would remain relatively flat in fiscal 2024 and increase by 1% in fiscal 2025, after certain adjustments to appropriations were made, according to a White House official. After fiscal 2025, there would be no budget caps.

The House GOP fact sheet says that non-defense discretionary spending would be rolled back to fiscal 2022 levels and topline federal spending would be limited to 1% annual growth for the next six years.

The breakdown of non-defense discretionary spending for fiscal 2024, according to a source familiar with the deal, is that the cap would be about $704 billion, of which $121 billion would be for veterans’ medical care and $583 billion would be for other areas.

That report likewise fails to mention that 53% of the budget is for the military — the portion of the budget that is being increased instead of decreased.

Furthermore, where their report stated “that the cap would be about $704 billion, of which $121 billion would be for veterans’ medical care,” it did not mention that in the U.S. Government’s counting, “veterans’ medical care” is NOT counted as being “military,” though it IS a military expense, and the normal international practice is to INCLUDE that category as BEING “Defense” expenditure. The reason why the U.S. Government does NOT is because if the U.S. Government were to spend its veterans’ medical care out of the “Defense” Department (the only department that is being counted by SIPRI and other international comparators of the various nations’ “defense” expenditures), then the reality would show up in those comparisons: that the U.S. alone spends around 50% of the entire world’s military expenditures.

For example: the CSIS (U.S.-and-allied Government-funded and megacorporate and billionaire funded think tank of the military-industrial complex) even notes in its “China Power” report, that “The United States funds its nuclear weapons through the Department of Energy and does not include these details in its defense budget” (whereas other nations do), and that “disaster relief in China is funded through the defense budget and is to be reimbursed by non-defense agencies. Likewise, perquisites for retired senior officers — including offices, assistants, and special access to hospital facilities — are all funded through China’s defense budget.” But America pays for those functions though non-military Departments — not the ‘Defense’ Department.

The Democratic Party’s NBC News headlined on May 29th, “What’s in the debt limit bill? Key provisions in the Biden-McCarthy deal to avert default” and reported:

The agreement includes spending caps for the next two years to set up the appropriations process. In fiscal year 2024, it limits military spending to $886 billion and non-military discretionary spending to $704 billion. In fiscal year 2025, those numbers rise to about $895 billion and $711 billion.

But much of that “$704 billion” is ALSO going to the military. Furthermore: That $886B, which is the acknowledged portion of America’s military expenditures, constitutes not 53% of discretionary spending like in the recent past, but instead 56% of discretionary spending — and it is not only being protected from cuts, but the ‘news’-media are allowing the President and Congress to hide from the public that it’s the military that’s actually bleeding taxpayers, not the poor who are. And, on top of all this, congressional Republicans are now being public about their intentions to reduce the amounts of funding for the recipients of Social Security and Medicare. People like this (both the Republicans and the Democrats in Government) can be elected in a democracy? No: it is only a ‘democracy’; it is actually an aristocracy. The President and Congress don’t represent the public, in America.

The entire rest of the world is (according to SIPRI) spending $1,363T — which is actually only 91% as high as is America’s $1,500T military spending. So: America, according to the best available estimates, is actually spending well over half of the entire planet’s military costs. But the U.S. Government is increasing its official — Defense Department — military spending, to $886 billion, while keeping Social Security and Medicare as-is, and cutting only the 11% that’s left, which is money that’s going toward the poor, the neediest Americans. This is a banner year for the billionaires who own controlling interests in firms such as Lockheed Martin. In fact, over half of the 56% of the discretionary spending that’s going to the military, is now going to the ‘defense’ contractors: firms such as Lockheed Martin.

That $886 billion official ‘defense’ spending will increase, but portions of the $704B that are officially ‘non’-defense — the portions of it that go to the poorest — will get all of the cuts.

The U.S. media lie about all of this, by participating with the U.S. Government in hiding it from the public. The purpose of this article is to un-hide it — thagt it’s robbing the public to subsidize the super-rich. And the links here are to document it: to document the reality that the press are hiding.

This article is being submitted to all of the U.S. press.

Investigative historian Eric Zuesse’s new book, AMERICA’S EMPIRE OF EVIL: Hitler’s Posthumous Victory, and Why the Social Sciences Need to Change, is about how America took over the world after World War II in order to enslave it to U.S.-and-allied billionaires. Their cartels extract the world’s wealth by control of not only their ‘news’ media but the social ‘sciences’ — duping the public.

MORE ON THE TOPIC:

• Eric Zuesse: Why Biden Became President
• Eric Zuesse: How U.S.-And-Allied ‘News’-Media Exploit Americans’ Prejudices
• Eric Zuesse: The Insanity That Rules The West

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