Congressman Barney Frank
Representing Massachusetts' 4th District

SPEECH

Frank Speaks Out on Excessive Military Spending
Budget Resolution for FY10
April 2, 2009



Madam Chairman, I admire the work that's been done by the leadership of the Progressive Caucus and the staff.

Before getting to that I would like to make two, I think, corrections to my friend from Texas. First, I know people on that side have a propensity to see socialists everywhere. But the people who are most lecturing the American Government are the president of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, and the chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, two conservatives. So his invocation of socialists lecturing us is a further example of the propensity to see socialists where they are not. In fact, we have not heard that from the British Government, which is run by the Labor Party. But the Gaullist president of France and the Christian Democratic chancellor of Germany would object to being called socialists by my friend from Texas.

Secondly, he says this would be the first administration in history to hand on to the next generation a lower standard of living. No, it won't even be, if that happens, the first administration to do it in this century because the Bush administration has done just that. If you look at what the standard of living was after this terrible economic crisis that came under the Bush administration, we've already hit that goal.

Now, as to spending. A riddle, Madam Chairman. When is government spending not government spending? And on the other hand, when does government spending which, according to the conservatives, destroys jobs, in fact create jobs? The answer is when it's for weapons.

We have, on the other side, a form of weaponized Keynesianism. When it comes to spending money to build roads or improve medical infrastructure or do other things that are enhancing the quality of life, they tell us that government spending doesn't create a job. But when we are talking about continuing to produce weapons that have the admirable purpose of defeating the Soviet Union in the Cold War, and we're still producing the weapons, then somehow we have to keep them going because of its job creation capacity.

Military spending. George Bush, in his exit interview with the Wall Street Journal, hardly a harsh critic for him on the editorial page, said the main reason he had to spend so much was the ramp-up in military spending. I just disagree with him that it was necessary. The wholly unnecessary, in fact, damaging Iraq war has cost us hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars.

I am amazed that people can lament spending and forget the elephant in the room. And when the elephant forgets the elephant in the room, I suppose it's even more surprising, because it is massive military spending now and for the future that is the problem.

We're worried about entitlements. I am less concerned about a 73-year-old woman getting a cost of living increase than I am about building the F-22 when we no longer need it. And we have missile defense. Now, I don't keep up, since I became chairman of the committee I've been a little diverted, with the news as much as I used to. And I haven't reviewed all the fatwas out of that lunatic regime in Iran. But I do not remember them threatening to destroy Prague. I do not remember the pronouncement in which Iran said, you Czechs better watch out; we're going to bomb you.

Despite the absence of any such threat, the budget that my friends on the other side would like commits us to spending billions of dollars to defend Prague against Iran. I'd rather protect old people against poverty.








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