Budget Matters Blog


To Some, Reparations Are Common Sense

Three white Jeopardy contestants recently thought reparations had already been paid. It made me feel strangely optimistic.


Biden's Pentagon is Still Trump's Pentagon

With his Pentagon budget proposal last week, President Biden made clear his intention to continue in the footsteps of President Trump. The proposal called for an increase in Pentagon and war spending from $740 billion fiscal year 2021 to $753 billion in fiscal year 2022. 


Stop Calling it a "Border Crisis"

People escaping violence have a right to seek safety. If they can’t, that’s the real crisis.


Biden's 2022 budget raises military spending past $750 billion

Today, President Joe Biden unveiled his administration's FY 2022 “skinny budget” request. While not a full breakdown, the “skinny budget” offers a critical glimpse at topline discretionary budget spending and speaks volumes about the administration's priorities. At $753 billion, Biden's requested Pentagon budget increase continues the dangerous and short-sighted path...


Will President Biden Continue Astronomical Pentagon Spending?

Progressives have called for an immediate ten percent Pentagon spending reduction, to be followed by greater reductions. That would take spending closer to where it was under President Obama. We'll soon find out whether President Biden will stick with the Trump increases, build on them, or begin to tear them down.


If Impoverished Countries Can Host Millions of Refugees, the US Can Welcome a Few Thousand

The factors that drive displacement are often complex, but welcoming refugees isn't.


The Day I Became Anti-War

A personal recollection on the day that launched the Iraq War — and its lessons for us 18 years later.


18 Years of Invasion in Iraq

We’ve had 18 years to learn that the costs of war are just too high. We must end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the next time our leaders inevitably argue for the necessity of war, it’s up to us to resist.  


Bombing Syria vs. Raising Wages: When Do the Rules Apply?

The Biden administration is bending rules to drop bombs but not raise wages. That’s a mistake.


The Syria Strike and America's Broken Foreign Policy

It’s time for a different foreign policy that respects the rule of law, respects the sovereignty of other nations, and respects human life in all nations.