U.S. MILITARY BUDGET FACTS EXCERPTED FROM WWW.WHITEHOUSE.GOV

CURRENT US MILITARY BUDGET (This is excerpted from www.whitehouse.gov)

Provides $439.3 billion for the Department of Defense’s base budget—a 7-percent increase over 2006 and a 48-percent increase over 2001—to maintain a high level of military readiness, develop and procure new weapon systems to ensure U.S. battlefield superiority, and support our servicemembers and their families;

Requests $50 billion in 2007 bridge funding to support the military’s Global War on Terror efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq into 2007;

Expands the Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicle force from 12 to 21 orbits, each supporting 3-4 aircraft, to increase sustained 24-hour surveillance capabilities;

Increases substantially the size and capabilities of the Special Operations Command;

Adds $173.3 million to continue developing and refining a New Triad of smaller nuclear forces, enhanced missile defenses, and improved command and control; and
Provides an additional 2.2-percent increase in basic pay.

PROPOSED 08/09:
Bush Boosts Defense Spending in $3.1 Trillion Budget
Feb. 4 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush sent Congress a $3.1 trillion federal budget that trims Medicare and health care programs, boosts military spending and projects the deficit this year and next will hit near-record levels.The spending blueprint for fiscal 2009 is the biggest ever. It would slow the rate of growth in spending for entitlement programs such as Medicare for savings of $208 billion over five years. Pentagon spending would rise 7.5 percent to $515 billion, the 11th consecutive year of increases. Programs in the departments of education, interior, transportation, justice and agriculture would be reduced.