A Small Crack in the Wall

Today, the Senate inflicted a defeat of the military-industrial complex when it voted 58-40 to strip funding for F-22 warplane.  According to the Washington Post, the F-22 is a plane that requires 30 hours of ground maintenance for every hour in the air and is "vulnerable to rain."  Both Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen, who are both Bush appointies, favored this move and so did Sen. John McCain(R-AZ). The major reason that 40 Senators voted for such a clusterf**ck is the military-industrial complex ensures that military projects are built in as many congressional districts as possible.

It is only a small victory but it is nice to see that some in Washington realize that defense dollars are real dollars that when spent on wasteful weapons programs it means that those dollars can't be used on more deserving projects.  Perhaps we can one day divert all the money we spend on killing foreigners on things like health care for all people.  I can dream can't I.