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Whereas some argue, for example, that single-payer healthcare is impossible, those same voices remain "pretty quiet on the F-35 being a money pit." (Photo: Forsvarsdepartementet/flickr/cc)

Nation "Too Broke" for Universal Healthcare to Spend $406 Billion More on F-35

There is always another $27 billion lying around, it seems, when Lockheed Martin needs more money for expensive weapons system

Jon Queally

The nation's most expensive weapons program isn't done showing U.S. taxpayers how much it will ultimately cost them, with Bloomberg reporting Monday that the F-35 fighter jet budget is now predicted to jump by a cool $27 billion.

"Think about [F-35's] $405 billion price tag when a family member dies of a preventable disease. Get angry."

Though the estimated future cost of the program had previously hovered at a mind-boggling $379 billion, an updated draft that could be submitted to Congress as early as today will reportedly exceed $406 billion—a nearly 7 percent increase.

The new cost increases may come as a hit to President Donald Trump, who has bragged about his ability to get weapons manufacturers to offer the Pentagon "better deals."

Rob Garver, national correspondent for the Fiscal Times, made the point this way:

Others simply pointed out how ridiculous it is that a weapons program so fraught with failures is allowed to receive such outlandish funding when lawmakers—mostly Republicans, but also many Democrats—continue to argue that the nation is "too broke" to increase spending on social programs that improve education or healthcare.

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
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