George Bush's position on Defense Spending

Defense Spending: While debating over the war in Iraq and the war on terror, the issue of which candidate would spend the necessary funding to defend our nation has come to our attention.

George W. Bush

Description of candidate's position: Defense spending has gone up 52.5% over the last three years. Link Military and security spending have risen faster than spending for any other domestic program. All troops will receive another pay raise which will increase over 4% from the last two years. Also, housing costs for troops will go down from 15% to 11%. He will eliminate 165,000 inadequate housing units. He wants to double fund homeland security, focusing on bioterrorism and improved intelligence. President Bush's new proposal is for $379 billion, increasing defense spending by more than $15.3 billion. His new budget provides $9 billion for defense against long-range ballistic missiles. President Bush has stated that he will increase the production of more precision weapons. The army's Land Warrior Technology is another next generation weapon fought for by the President to help our troops be more aware on foot. Bunker-defeating munitions would also be included in the spending. Space-based radar and space control systems, unmanned underwater vehicles, and underwater aerial vehicles like the ones used in the war on terror are all programs that will be supported by the president. Link

Quotation from the candidate: "It costs a lot to fight this war. We have spent more than a billion dollars a month -- over $30 million a day -- and we must be prepared for future operations. Afghanistan proved that expensive precision weapons defeat the enemy and spare innocent lives, and we need more of them. We need to replace aging aircraft and make our military more agile, to put our troops anywhere in the world quickly and safely. Our men and women in uniform deserve the best weapons, the best equipment, the best training -- and they also deserve another pay raise. (Applause.) My budget includes the largest increase in defense spending in two decades -- because while the price of freedom and security is high, it is never too high. Whatever it costs to defend our country, we will pay." (Applause.) Link

Assessment of the Proposal:

Positive: Democratic Georgia Senator Zell Miller endorses President Bush because he feels he will best defend this country and that he is "the right man at the right time." Link

Negative: The Heritage Foundation is an objective site that does policy research and analysis of the budget. They think that President Bush sorely lacks "self-discipline required balancing fiscal priorities." Link

Comparison: President Bush is clearly a big spender on defense which some claim is needed at this time while others claim that he is being too irresponsible. Senator Kerry has been for defense cuts in the past but has eased up within the last decade or so.

Link to Kerry's Defense Spending brief