WASHINGTON (AP)– A new $ 1 trillion COVID-19 reaction plan by Senate Republicans is supposed to offer the government more weapons to fight the surging coronavirus pandemic. However GOP lawmakers have more than just the “invisible enemy” in mind.
The Republican step includes billions for F-35 fighters, Apache helicopters and infantry carriers sought by Washington’s powerful defense lobby. Overall, the proposal stuffs $8 billion into Pentagon weapons systems constructed by defense professionals like Boeing, Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics– corporate titans that sit atop the Washington influence market.
The costs, prepared by Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Richard Shelby, R-Ala., would deposit $2.2 billion in Pentagon shipbuilding accounts, increase missile defense systems in California and Alaska and deliver about $1.4 billion for C-130 transportation aircrafts and F-35 fighters manufactured by Lockheed Martin Corp. Some of the F-35 s could be provided to an Air National Guard unit in Montgomery, Alabama.
In numerous cases, Shelby proposes bring back cuts imposed by the administration that diverted practically $4 billion to help pay for the construction of President Donald Trump’s border wall. The Pentagon won significant defense increases last year with passage of a budget plan contract that removed automatic costs cuts known as sequestration.
The $8 billion weapons procurement package belongs to a $294 billion defense part of the GOP’s $1 trillion coronavirus action step, a White House-backed plan launched Monday. Supplying that money now would help build headroom into the