The fact that the 2,232-page bill was jammed down legislators’ throats with literally no time to read it shows how little has changed in Washington even after the Tea Party.
But the omnibus is not a disaster. In fact, Republicans scored many important wins.
One is the fact that the bill provides massive new spending for defense — “the largest year-to-year increase in base funding for the Department of Defense in 15 years,” according to the bill’s authors.
That funding was badly needed — and will not easily be reversed.
Military.com summarizes the highlights:
The Navy gets 14 new ships, including a carrier; the Air Force adds 56 F-35s; the Army gets 17 Apache and 11 Lakota helicopters; the Marine Corpsreceives 24 vertical landing F-35Bs; and the Coast Guard gets a long-needed icebreaker.
All the troops get funding for a 2.4 percent pay raise that took effect at the beginning of the year, with the possibility for more next year.
The Air Force also gets $103 million for the wing replacement program on the A-10 Thunderbolt as a start in what Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson said earlier this week is a plan to keep the “Warthogs” flying at least to 2030.
Most conservatives — from skeptical libertarians to hawkish neoconservatives — agree that national security is the first priority of government. The new defense spending will help the U.S. military catch up to the pace of Chinese expansion, and keep other threats in check.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
