INFLATION IS the Navy ($1.5 billion), the Trident Protective Reaction Strikes or How submarine ($1.5 billion, up from Jimmy the CWill Save Our $667 million last year), the Trident Economy by Making Most of Us strategic missile ($831 million), the Poorer and a Few of Them Richer MX mobile missile ($675.4 million this year, mainly for research and development, and rising fast). There are a number of such titanic expenJim “ I will never lie to you” ditures. But the real significance of Carter has proposed a ‘‘lean and Carter’s increased budget lies not austere” budget that has as much so much in these spectacular investresolve to cut excess weight as the ments as in what defense buffs like latest Shelley Winters diet proclato call ‘acorns’ — meager-seeming mation. outlays in 1980 that will become The defense department still livmighty forests of cost-overrun in ing with their Dr. Strangelove overthree or four years. kill mentality has managed to talk The Defense Department’s proour fearless leader into a proposed curement program is thus up 6.6% outlay of $125.8 billion of a total in real terms over last year to budget of $531.6 billion. ■35.4 billion, with research and The defense budget represents development running at 13.6 billion. 23.1% of the federal budget and an These are the intimations and realiincrease of 3.1% in real (counting zations of vast programs. The army, inflation) dollar terms over last year. for example, is just getting under This is just the tip of the iceberg way with its new AAH attack helifor what the defense department copter, which costs $7.5 million a has in store for us. copy, seven times as much as its ‘‘An extra $100 million or so is predecessor, the AHIS. The army going for AWACS, the flying radar similarly is spending $49.4 million bunker, which has been seeking a in 1980 on R&D for a program home ever since the Air Force decidcalled Remotely Piloted Vehicles. ed it could not be justified as a The sum last year was 18.2 million counter over the North American and in the years to come this land mass to a nonexistant Soviet amount will continue to climb. The bomber threat. The Shah did his Navy is launching its own shipbest, purchasing three of the based AWACS, the Aegis Surface- ‘command-and-control’ Boeings, but to-Air Missile System — still in the eventual beneficiaries will now R&D at $53.1 million. be NATO forces in Europe. AWACS Examples of these preliminary outlays in 1980 will be $406.9 investments abound in programs million.’^ from tanks to missile delivery Other Pentagon boondoggles systems to helicopters. After the include, “a new aircraft carrier for single rejection of the B-l bomber, BIG BUSINESS Carter and Defense Secretary TAX RELIEF FOR THE RICH Brown have basically proceeded with the Defense Department’s Candidate Carter promised a version of Business As Usual — “complete overhaul of our tax which is to fund everything and system. It is a disgrace to the cut nothing. Rationalization has human race. All my life I ’ve heard been blithely postponed. The result promises of tax reform, but it never in the mid-1980’s will be a defense quite happens. With your help we budget far in excess of the presently are finally going to make it happen.” contemplated $165.7 billion (for “The tax reform legislation of 1984); a crisis in operation and 1978, backed by Carter, benefited maintenance costs as the investprimarily the elite. The 75,000 taxments today in procurement work payers with incomes above 200,000 their way through; and finally, war, a year will receive annual benefits bloody and terrible, between the averaging $13,691. The millions of services as they fight for dollars taxpayers earning between 15,000 that will not be there. This, of and 20,000 will get a tax reduction course, will not be Carter’s problem. of $80. Tax deduction for lavish The only example of leanness and meals — the ‘three martini lunch’ austerity we could discern was the for corporate executives and lawyers proposal to downgrade toilet clean— attacked by candidate Carter ers from GS-2 (starting salary remain in the tax code. 3 $7,422) to GS-1 (starting salary $6561?. ” 2 “THE GREATEST “To top it all off Congresswoman HANDOUT TO THE Elizabeth Holtzman has uncovered $21 billion in unspent and unconRICH SINCE JOHN D. tracted for funds in the last Defense ROCKEFELLER Department budget. This 21 billion (three times the cost of the food FORMED HIS TRUST stamp program), the generals AT THE END OF THE couldn’t think of a way of spending after a whole year of missile fan 19th CENTURY occurred tasies, and cost overruns is called with the final passage of President an “unobligated balance.” What Carter’s energy bill. Since before would you call a president who in WWII the nation has been involved his acceptance speech to the 1976 in a struggle to achieve a measure Democratic Convention said, “We of control over the prices producers should make our major investment charge for natural gas, which itself furnishes a 3rd of the country’s in people, not in weapons.” energy. Producers are, of course, oil companies. continued page 26 15
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