No one in the US Congress seems to have ever read the Constitution because they very clearly don't embrace the concept of enumerated powers. The whole idea when they wrote the document in 1787 was to limit what the federal government could do. They left a loophole, but even that isn't very big. The escape clause the Founders added was the "Necessary and Proper Clause"--a statement that Congress could legislate in areas that were BOTH necessary to the fulfillment of their Constitutional obligations and a proper exercise of their powers. The dusty Tenth Amendment nailed the rest of the doors shut with the clear expression of retention of unenumerated powers by the states.
Among the very clearly enumerated powers are the ones to establish a postal system, which they haven't succeeded in managing very well; to coin money which they are determined to abuse for the sake of welfare redistribution; and the very elemental authority to raise a military for the defense of the nation.
The current Congress is ten days short of the end of the fiscal year and has not fulfilled their obligation to adopt a budget. They have thumbed their collective noses at the very concept of discussion, debate and prioritization of expenditures for the coming year. They don't talk about it because they couldn't get re-elected if they did. Rather they have decided that next year's budget will be "deemed" to have been passed.
The military, however, needs a bank bag of firmly fixed funds to continue to conduct operations and to plan for the development of weaponry to deal with future conflicts and enemies we might face. A DOD budget won't wait, so they are talking about it now.
It is no secret that the administration and the majority in Congress begrudge every dollar that they must direct to defense. Those are dollars Congress can't spend to expand the dependency of their voting base upon themselves. So, they do the next best thing. They lard up the defense budget with a menu of social engineering programs to simultaneously appeal to their leftist adherents and to undermine the ability of the military to function as a cohesive, strong, fighting force.
The Abortion Pill From the Lame Senator
Admittedly the question of military hospitals providing abortions at overseas locations is one that needs dealing with. The social conservatives of the previous administration succeeded in incorporating that restriction in DOD policy. It isn't problematic at CONUS locations where alternative routes exist for medical services. It is a huge problem when the issue arises for military families in overseas duty stations.
You might not approve of abortion, but you have to recognize that young people will get pregnant. When they are military members serving in foreign lands, they are totally dependent upon the military for their healthcare. They also are not combat ready or contributing to mission accomplishment when this issue arises. Rotating them out of theater simply adds costs to the undertaking.
Whether this solution proposed by Sen. Burris is necessary or proper is irrelevant when it comes to DOD budget authorization however.
Ditto for the other social engineering programs which threaten to bugger the works of the coming year's budget. Repeal of "Don't Ask-Don't Tell" may or may not be a good idea, but it isn't budget related. Dangling a shortcut to citizenship for illegals who serve in the military or enroll in college is similarly a debatable policy, but has nothing at all with purchase of beans and bullets.
The sausage making in Washington is way too visible these days and most of us are losing our electoral appetites.
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