At the beginning of this week, 67 years ago, the United States completed the first ever test of a nuclear weapon. A landmark moment in the history of this country's defense – and defense spending. By some estimates, the entire project cost over $2 billion (over $21 billion in today's dollars), which, considering the already tight defense budget for the ongoing war effort, was no small sum.
Today defense, and defense spending, are still major issues. The ongoing conflict in Syria, and the U.S. response, has elicited strong reactions from congressmen, while President Obama has met with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the issue (among many other things).
And news from Syria can be set against the back drop of a possible vote this week in the house regarding “the sequester” – a variety of automatic cuts, some in our defense spending, that will take effect next January, as a result of S 365, the Budget Control Act of 2011 (you've probably heard it called “The Debt Ceiling Debate”).
At votesmart.org you can find out how your representatives feel about defense and defense spending in a few different ways:
You can see how they've been rated by special interests groups that fall under our Defense, National Security, Military Issues, or Foreign Aid and Policies issues category.
You can see if they've responded to the defense-related questions we asked on our Political Courage Test regarding spending cuts and our involvement in Afghanistan.
You can search their recent speeches and public statements for keywords like “Syria”, “sequester” or “defense spending”.
You can use our handy interactive tool, VoteEasy, by selecting “Budget” to see how candidates' positions on defense spending match up to your own.
The speculation about Mitt Romney's running mate is growing and we wanted to remind you that if you come across an unknown name, check our site for their profile to get in the know. So whether you want to brush-up on the bigger name possibilities like Nikki Haley or Tim Pawlenty, or you haven't heard much about Kelly Ayotte, they're all there on votesmart.org.
The speculation about Mitt Romney's running mate is growing and we wanted to remind you that if you come across an unknown name, check our site for their profile to get in the know. So whether you want to brush-up on the bigger name possibilities like Nikki Haley or Tim Pawlenty, or you haven't heard much about Kelly Ayotte, they're all there on votesmart.org.
