An update on arms control, national security, and politics from Council for a Livable World and the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.
What’s News:
President Obama Vetoes Gimmick-Filled NDAA
Last week, President Obama followed through on his promise to veto the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). We gave ten reasons why we thought President Obama should veto the bill, including for its abuse of the Overseas Contingency Operations account (OCO), wasteful missile defense provisions, and much more. Read all ten reasons on the Nukes of Hazard Blog »
Our quote in The Hill’s Overnight Defense: “President Obama is right to prevent Congress from breaking their own rules of so-called fiscal discipline.” Read more on our take in our press release »
A Not-So-Grand Bargain: The Gimmicks Continue…
Also in budget news, Congress and the White House unveiled on Monday night a two-year budget agreement that would raise domestic and defense spending caps as well as the debt ceiling. Most egregiously for issues of national security, it raises the Pentagon’s spending limit by $25 billion and allows for the continued use of the Overseas Contingency Operations as the Pentagon’s slush fund. The Senate passed the budget deal early Friday morning. Read our statement on this budget deal here »
Read:
Hillary Clinton Was Right About This
No matter your opinion about front-runner presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, in the first Democratic debate she got it right when she said she believed the spread of nuclear weapons to be our greatest national security threat. In an op-ed for The National Interest, Research and Policy Associate Greg Terryn follows up on why Clinton is right about the dangers of loose nukes. Read it on our website »
How to Strengthen the Iran Deal
With the focus now shifted to implementing the hard-fought agreement to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran, we’ve put together a factsheet of several steps the U.S. Congress can and should take to strengthen this agreement–as well as steps it should not take. Read the factsheet here »
Throwing Weapons at Our Problems
After the Iran deal was inked, certain members of Congress still intent on wrecking the agreement had the preposterous idea of sending massive bombs to Israel. As intern Doug Tomlinson argues, this instance is symptomatic of a larger habit the U.S. has of throwing weapons at its problems–especially in the Middle East. Read Doug’s take on the Nukes of Hazard blog »
The Future of Arms Control
Earlier this month, the State Department released new stockpile numbers of U.S. and Russian warheads. The good news: Both countries are on track to comply with the New START treaty’s mandated reductions. The bad news: There seems to be little hope for a new treaty to further reduce these bloated stockpiles. Read from Doug Tomlinson on the Nukes of Hazard blog »
Be Social:
Tricks and Treats for the Pentagon Budget
This Halloween, budgeting tricks have resulted in more treats for the Pentagon—of the billion-dollar kind. The budget agreement reached this week gives the Pentagon a substantial boost in its base spending for the next fiscal year, and continues to rely on unacceptable gimmicks to fund wasteful programs. Share our graphic on Facebook if you agree »
