Does Big Money Make America Safer?

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After four hours of debate about terrorism, Secretary Rumsfeld and the war in Iraq, the Senate passed a $470 defense bill yesterday without a single dissenting vote. If Congress does nothing else between now and election day, it will have passed more military spending than the rest of the world combined. It's a post/911 election year, after all, with wars going on in Iraq and Afghanistan.  But the Pentagon has admitted for years that it can't keep track of its money.  So who knows if more and more dollars really add up to greater protection?  Does Congress exercise the oversight it's supposed to?  Are pet projects taking resources away from American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan?  (An extended version of this discussion was originally aired earlier today on To the Point.)

Credits

Guests:

Host:

Warren Olney

Producer:

Frances Anderton