Defense Aspects of the Stimulus Bill

Details of the recent $787 billion stimulus bill are slowly emerging. All told, it looks like about $10 billion will go to the Defense Department.

The bulk of the stimulus money going to the Defense Department is in construction funds. About $4.5 billion is for renovation and modernization of posts, camps and stations, with $1.7 billion tied to energy efficiency.

An additional $3.75 billion is for construction and renovation of military hospitals and medical facilities. The funding also will pay for providing up-to-date medical care for service members and their families.

Constructing and modernizing troop housing, along with expanding child care and development centers, get a total of $1.6 billion. The Defense Department also gets $350 million for research and pilot projects to improve energy generation and transmission.

Specific details can be found here. I'll identify the defense spending lines.

• DOD Office of the Inspector General - $15 million
• Army facilities, operations and maintenance (O&M) - $1.47 billion
• Navy facilities, O&M - $657 million
• Marine Corps facilities, O&M - $114 million
• Air Force facilities, O&M - $1.1 billion
• Army reserve facilities, O&M- $98 million
• Navy reserve facilities, O&M- $55 million
• Marine Corps reserve facilities, O&M - $40 million
• Air Force reserve facilities, O&M - $13 million
• Army National Guard facilities, O&M -$266 million
• Air Force National Guard facilities, O&M - $25.8 million
• Army research development, test and evaluation (RDT&E) - $75 million
• Navy RDT&E - $75 million
• Air Force RDT&E - $75 million
• Defense-wide RDT&E - $75 million
• DOD medical facilities repair and modernization - $400 million
• Army Corps of Engineers (ACoE) investigations - $25 million
• ACoE construction - $2 billion
• ACoE, Mississippi River and Tributaries - $375 million
• ACoE, operations and maintenance - $2.1 billion
• ACoE, regulatory program - $25 million
• ACoE, formerly utilized defense sites (FUDS) remedial action - $100 million
• Defense environmental cleanup - $5.13 billion

Now the defense cut of the pie is only about 1.5%, but it's all "shovel-ready" projects. It's all well-spent, if it goes to building new facilities or repairing current facilities on military bases. Base operating funds have been raped over the last five years or so in order to push money into Middle East combat operations. Nothing for the major defense acquisition programs, how sad. But why would the Republicans vote against funding these important defense projects? Why? I just don't understand. It's as if the Repubs would rather be blatent obstructionists against rebuilding the crumbling defense infrastructure instead of being bipartisan members of Congress, interested in helping America get back on its feet.

Comments

[Rhea Rippey]

"But why would the Republicans vote against funding these important defense projects?"

Is that a serious question?

The Defense portion of the mammoth, pork-filled spending bill disguised as a "stimulus" bill is a miniscule 0.012%. They voted against the outrageous 99.987% of that odious bill that they weren't even given time to READ.

I'm afraid your partisanship is showing, pal.

[J.]

1) Your math is off. The defense portion is 1.2%. And when did actual percentages stop Repubs from accusing Dems of "voting against defense programs" when the tables were turned?

2) It was a rhetorical question. The spending plan includes lots of good funding for health, infrastructure, and strengthening the economy. Shame all the Repubs can say is "tax cut," which doesn't build anything.

3) Never said I wasn't partisan. Generally, when Repubs are stupid like this, I just can't help myself.

[Brad]

Which major private companies is this money being spent with?

[J.]

Hard to say, Brad. Because the money is mostly in O&M funding that can be spent over a two-year window and is spread out into several accounts, I'm guessing that a good deal will go to smaller firms who work construction and remediation areas. Not likely to go to the big defense firms, but one might see Bechtel, Parsons, Haliburton, similar firms getting some of that money. That's just a guess.