Pentagon Protects Nuclear Modernization Programs in FY17 Budget

Pentagon Requests $322 billion for Nuclear Modernization in '17

Presented with arguments pro and con either keeping 5,500 troops in Afghanistan or removing all US forces, 56 percent nationwide favored keeping forces deployed in Afghanistan.
“Given all the talk about increasing the defense budget, we were surprised to find how much Americans are not sold on increases, including a majority of Republicans nationwide,” said Steven Kull, director of the University of Maryland’s Program for Public Consultation and president of Voice Of the People, a nonpartisan organization that seeks to give citizens greater influence in policy making, in a prepared statement.
The survey also presented the overall budget in various contexts, and gauged the relative levels of surprise among respondents. When the $573 billion of 2015 defense spending was compared with other discretionary spending, 56 percent nationally said it was more than they expected, versus 35 percent who answered it was just about what they expected, and 8 percent who said it was less.
When compared with entitlement programs, those percentages shifted to 32, 40 and 27 percent, respectively.
And when presented as a historic percentage of US gross domestic product, only 18 percent thought the defense budget was more than expected, 28 percent in line with expectations, and 54 percent lower than anticipated. http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/policy-budget/budget/2016/02/10/pentagon-requests-322-billion-nuclear-weapons-17/80166570/