[Peace-discuss] Obama lies about nukes, too

[C. G. Estabrook]

You're grasping at straws, Stuart.

In this as in other matters, Obama's intensifying perduring US policies, not 
reversing them. --CGE


Stuart Levy wrote:
> On Sat, Jan 16, 2010 at 10:11:35AM -0600, C. G. Estabrook wrote:
>> [Obama was praised for his pious posturings about eliminating nuclear 
>> weapons. What a shameless liar he is. --CGE]
> 
> It may be so, but seems we need answers to the unanswered questions
> mentioned here before knowing whether this is indeed a step away
> from eliminating nuclear weapons.  The two definite items in here
> are $600+ million for nonproliferation funding, and $145M from DoD for
> "nuclear weapons surveillance".
> 
> If a new-improved-nuclear-weapons program gets funded, then I would agree with you.
> 
> But why count monsters before they're hatched?
> 
>> 	Saturday, January 16, 2010
>> 	Nuke Budget May Rise 10 Percent
>> 	By John Fleck
>>
>>     The Obama administration is preparing to ask Congress for a 10 percent 
>> increase in the U.S. nuclear weapons budget, according to an internal memo.
>>
>>     The National Nuclear Security Administration' s budget for nuclear 
>> weapons research, development, maintenance and manufacturing would rise to 
>> $7 billion in 2010, up from $6.38 billion this year, according to a Dec. 22 
>> memo from Energy Secretary Steven Chu to the Office of Management and 
>> Budget.
>>
>>     The weapons program funds work at Los Alamos and Sandia national 
>> laboratories, which together employ about 20,000 New Mexicans.
>>
>>     The memo, a copy of which was obtained by the Journal, outlines a 
>> preliminary deal worked out between OMB and the Department of Energy, the 
>> federal agency with jurisdiction over the weapons program.
>>
>>     Administration officials have repeatedly declined comment on the budget 
>> request pending its formal release next month, but the increase discussed 
>> in Chu's memo has been widely expected. The budget request goes to 
>> Congress, which must then determine a final spending level for fiscal year 
>> 2011, which begins Oct. 1.
>>
>>     According to the memo, the Defense Department has agreed to contribute 
>> some money from its budget in future years to help the Energy Department 
>> fund nuclear weapons work.
>>
>>     The memo says the Defense Department money — $145 million per year 
>> — would be used to fund nuclear weapons surveillance, in which old 
>> nuclear weapons are routinely removed from the arsenal and dismantled to 
>> look for problems caused by aging. The additional money also would support 
>> basic nuclear weapons science, engineering and technology work done at the 
>> labs.
>>
>>     The proposed funding increase comes as the Obama administration is 
>> trying to win support for a new arms control treaty with the Russians.
>>
>>     In a Dec. 15 letter, 40 Republican senators and independent Joe 
>> Lieberman wrote that any arms control reductions need to be accompanied by 
>> money to modernize the remaining U.S. nuclear arsenal, along with the labs 
>> and plants that maintain the nuclear weapons.
>>
>>     Chu's memo is silent on several key questions, including whether the 
>> administration will heed the Republicans' request to fund design of a 
>> next-generation nuclear weapon. The memo also is silent on how much the 
>> administration might request for replacement of Los Alamos National 
>> Laboratory's cold war-era plutonium laboratory. Federal officials have long 
>> pushed for a new plutonium lab, but the multibillion-dollar price tag has 
>> repeatedly gotten in the way.
>>
>>     In addition to the increase in nuclear weapons spending, the 
>> administration also anticipates asking for a 26 percent hike in spending on 
>> nuclear nonproliferation programs, to $2.7 billion, according to the memo.
>>
>>     Significant parts of that work also are done at Sandia and Los Alamos .
>>
>> Copyright © 2010 Albuquerque Journal Journal Staff Writer
>> URL: http://www.abqjournal.com/north/16231643north01-16-10.htm
>>
>> 	###
>>
>> -- 
>> This message has been scanned for viruses and
>> dangerous content by MailScanner, and is
>> believed to be clean.
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Peace-discuss mailing list
>> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
>> http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss
> 

-- 
This message has been scanned for viruses and
dangerous content by MailScanner, and is
believed to be clean.