A deeply divided House voted late Wednesday to continue letting the Pentagon use taxpayer money to sponsor sports leagues and teams — a victory chiefly for NASCAR, which had fought feverishly to maintain tens of millions of dollars that go to some of its teams every year.
A liberal-conservative coalition had fought to ax the spending, arguing that at a time of trillion-dollar deficits the military shouldn't be exempt from cuts. The coalition also argued that there's no hard evidence the spending helps with recruiting young men and women for the armed forces, which is the given purpose for the funding, including $21 million from the National Guard.
But their amendment was defeated 216-202, with 60 Democrats and 156 Republicans voting to preserve the money, estimated to be $72 million in 2013. The money goes to everything from mixed martial arts to motor racing.
"This vote was an important test for Republicans and Democrats as to whether they have the stomach to cut wasteful Pentagon spending at a time when Washington is facing trillion dollar deficits. Unfortunately, a majority decided taxpayer-funded race cars and bass fishing were more important than deficit reduction," said Betty McCollum, the Minnesota Democrat who's now fought for more than a year to cut the money.
Her effort this year was joined by Rep. Jack Kingston, a Georgia Republican who has taken heat for representing a NASCAR-friendly area, but who said he can't justify spending money without seeing real results.
Wednesday's vote was closer than previous attempts to cut the money, and suggests a growing concern about this kind of spending.
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Originally Posted by Dr.Lecter
