SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Trump's official Space Force logo bears a striking resemblance to the Star Trek logo. (Photo: via CNN)
Will the Space Force take the Pentagon Budget to Infinity and Beyond?
While the Space Force represents just a small sliver of the Pentagon budget, it is in many ways the poster child for a Pentagon that knows no bounds, either budgetarily or physically.
Feb 01, 2021
The first days of the Biden administration brought a deeply welcome spate of reversals of Trump policies, ranging from the reversal of the racist Muslim immigration ban to the nixing of the Keystone XL pipeline. But on one huge front, the Biden administration has yet to signal any major breaks from Trump's legacy: the vast overreach of the Pentagon.
During the Trump years, the Pentagon budget grew nearly seven percent, or nearly $50 billion, in inflation-adjusted terms, and the military gained its first new service since the Air Force in 1947. That service, the Space Force, happened to meet the former president's requirement for TV-ready policy, but its goofy origins aren't any guarantee that the new administration will send it packing.
In sheer dollar terms, the Space Force represents just a small sliver of the Pentagon's budget at $15 billion in 2021, but it is in many ways the poster child for a Pentagon that knows no bounds, either budgetarily or physically. The force has been controversial from the start, and while some of its functions would have existed even without a whole new military branch, the most lurid dreams for the Space Force veer into Star Wars territory with names like "orbital warfare."
The U.S. Pentagon is great at getting bigger and going farther. It is still ensnared in its longest war ever in Afghanistan. The U.S. military presence spans the Earth with more than 800 military installations and more than a quarter of a million troops stationed abroad at any given time. The Pentagon budget is now higher than at the height of the Vietnam War or Cold War. And now there's the Space Force.
To be sure, many of the most damaging Pentagon policies predate Trump, but the end of his era of bluster and profligate spending, combined with multiple other crises at home, still presents a chance for a fresh start. The Pentagon may be reaching for infinity (and beyond), but the Biden administration should pull back both the Space Force, and the rest of the Pentagon, well before we get there.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Copyright © 2023 National Priorities Project / Institute for Policy Studies
Lindsay Koshgarian
Lindsay Koshgarian directs the National Priorities Project at the Institute for Policy Studies.
The first days of the Biden administration brought a deeply welcome spate of reversals of Trump policies, ranging from the reversal of the racist Muslim immigration ban to the nixing of the Keystone XL pipeline. But on one huge front, the Biden administration has yet to signal any major breaks from Trump's legacy: the vast overreach of the Pentagon.
During the Trump years, the Pentagon budget grew nearly seven percent, or nearly $50 billion, in inflation-adjusted terms, and the military gained its first new service since the Air Force in 1947. That service, the Space Force, happened to meet the former president's requirement for TV-ready policy, but its goofy origins aren't any guarantee that the new administration will send it packing.
In sheer dollar terms, the Space Force represents just a small sliver of the Pentagon's budget at $15 billion in 2021, but it is in many ways the poster child for a Pentagon that knows no bounds, either budgetarily or physically. The force has been controversial from the start, and while some of its functions would have existed even without a whole new military branch, the most lurid dreams for the Space Force veer into Star Wars territory with names like "orbital warfare."
The U.S. Pentagon is great at getting bigger and going farther. It is still ensnared in its longest war ever in Afghanistan. The U.S. military presence spans the Earth with more than 800 military installations and more than a quarter of a million troops stationed abroad at any given time. The Pentagon budget is now higher than at the height of the Vietnam War or Cold War. And now there's the Space Force.
To be sure, many of the most damaging Pentagon policies predate Trump, but the end of his era of bluster and profligate spending, combined with multiple other crises at home, still presents a chance for a fresh start. The Pentagon may be reaching for infinity (and beyond), but the Biden administration should pull back both the Space Force, and the rest of the Pentagon, well before we get there.
From Your Site Articles
Lindsay Koshgarian
Lindsay Koshgarian directs the National Priorities Project at the Institute for Policy Studies.
The first days of the Biden administration brought a deeply welcome spate of reversals of Trump policies, ranging from the reversal of the racist Muslim immigration ban to the nixing of the Keystone XL pipeline. But on one huge front, the Biden administration has yet to signal any major breaks from Trump's legacy: the vast overreach of the Pentagon.
During the Trump years, the Pentagon budget grew nearly seven percent, or nearly $50 billion, in inflation-adjusted terms, and the military gained its first new service since the Air Force in 1947. That service, the Space Force, happened to meet the former president's requirement for TV-ready policy, but its goofy origins aren't any guarantee that the new administration will send it packing.
In sheer dollar terms, the Space Force represents just a small sliver of the Pentagon's budget at $15 billion in 2021, but it is in many ways the poster child for a Pentagon that knows no bounds, either budgetarily or physically. The force has been controversial from the start, and while some of its functions would have existed even without a whole new military branch, the most lurid dreams for the Space Force veer into Star Wars territory with names like "orbital warfare."
The U.S. Pentagon is great at getting bigger and going farther. It is still ensnared in its longest war ever in Afghanistan. The U.S. military presence spans the Earth with more than 800 military installations and more than a quarter of a million troops stationed abroad at any given time. The Pentagon budget is now higher than at the height of the Vietnam War or Cold War. And now there's the Space Force.
To be sure, many of the most damaging Pentagon policies predate Trump, but the end of his era of bluster and profligate spending, combined with multiple other crises at home, still presents a chance for a fresh start. The Pentagon may be reaching for infinity (and beyond), but the Biden administration should pull back both the Space Force, and the rest of the Pentagon, well before we get there.
From Your Site Articles
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.