Pentagon Budget Actually Increasing by 8%-9%

Slate's Fred Kaplan explains that President Bush is actually raising the Pentagon budget by twice as much as he has promised -- even when you discount the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Check out the whole must-read piece for the details, but here's the crux of it:

Here is the only possible explanation for this games-playing. President Bush is cutting, in some cases slashing, domestic programs. If he appears to be raising military spending by about 4 percent, well, some may think that's not excessive in a dangerous world. But if he seems to be raising it by 8 percent or 9 percent (again, not including the costs of the war in Iraq), that may seem a bit lopsided, warranting closer inspection.

If the President wants to increase the military budget by 9% when he's cutting education and medical programs, he should go out and do it. This backhanded attept at covertly increasing money for the Pentagon is unacceptable, however.