Cori Bush wants to defund the Pentagon

[Ferguson97]

https://twitter.com/CoriBush/status/1318596742888251394

What a moron

[exopolitician]

I don't see a problem here.

[WD]

What a joke. I fear for the future of the Democratic Party if people like her are ever in charge of it.

[TiltsAreUnderrated]

The language is probably not ideal for swing districts but Bush isn't in a swing district, Pentagon funding is extremely bloated and (from a progressive standpoint) it's healthy to have the Democratic base animated against advocacy of feeding yet more to the beast. If there isn't enough money for <insert important social service/tax cut/deficit reduction>, it's one of the best sources around.

[Ferguson97]

The language is probably not ideal for swing districts but Bush isn't in a swing district, Pentagon funding is extremely bloated and (from a progressive standpoint) it's healthy to have the Democratic base animated against advocacy of feeding yet more to the beast. If there isn't enough money for <insert important social service/tax cut/deficit reduction>, it's one of the best sources around.

The vast majority of people are going to assume "defund" means "$0".

[KaiserDave]

When did defund stop meaning Zero Dollars?

If she's literal, that's insane. If she's not literal, silly word choice.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

Just sub her in for Ayanna Pressley to make the Squad go full clownshoes.

[TiltsAreUnderrated]

The language is probably not ideal for swing districts but Bush isn't in a swing district, Pentagon funding is extremely bloated and (from a progressive standpoint) it's healthy to have the Democratic base animated against advocacy of feeding yet more to the beast. If there isn't enough money for <insert important social service/tax cut/deficit reduction>, it's one of the best sources around.

The vast majority of people are going to assume "defund" means "$0".

The vast majority of people (who might not assume this and probably wouldn't switch their vote on a single and usually low-salience issue) do not live in MO02. This assumption probably won't last if/when cuts actually happen and while they do last, they make smaller but substantial cuts look "moderate," giving cover to those pushing vital reforms.

[TiltsAreUnderrated]

When did defund stop meaning Zero Dollars?

When it was subbed in for "abolish," which makes the intent to dismantle perfectly clear.

[KaiserDave]

When did defund stop meaning Zero Dollars?

When it was subbed in for "abolish," which makes the intent to dismantle perfectly clear.

This is an intent to dismantle the English language.

[TML]

Duh!

A lot of the money spent there could have been spent bettering the lives of ordinary Americans.

[TiltsAreUnderrated]

When did defund stop meaning Zero Dollars?

When it was subbed in for "abolish," which makes the intent to dismantle perfectly clear.

This is an intent to dismantle the English language.

I'll admit it isn't especially clear itself, but if defunders really wanted to defund down to the last dollar, they'd simply stick with the longstanding and more well-known "Abolish [X]" slogan (as they have with ICE, but not the police). It's not the sort of language I'd be keen on using in a closely fought presidential campaign because of the ambiguity, but it is clearly meant as a banner under which to unite those committed to shallower cuts and full-fledged abolitionists.

Milder policy plans with caveats attached, when proposed by backbench Representative-elects, tend to generate fewer waves and are usually less likely to move a party's internal Overton window as a result. I'm not sure this will work, but the Democratic Party is still overly committed to throwing money at the Pentagon and would do better if its representatives feared more backlash when choosing to do so.

[SnowLabrador]

I don't see a problem here.

This. Our military budget is stupidly large. We need to invest in the American people.

[Suburbia]

The Pentagon budget should be cut, but she is a clown.

Cut foreign aid as well.

Cut foreign aid to Africa, the Middle East as well.

How about that, we should ban refugees from entering the U.S. too.

They're gonna get injured from the right, so why bother?

[Roronoa D. Law]

War was created for and by rich people.

[TrumpBritt24]

Mask On: Electable, smart, bold, young female candidate.

Mask Off: Joshua Collins

I'm ALL in favor of defunding the Pentagon - but if you campaign on it, you are laughably idiotic.

[free my dawg]

This is why we need to move away from "defund". My wing of the party has a major messaging problem and it needs to be fixed if we're going to want to beat Kamala/Mayor Pete/whichever establishment-wing candidate they put up after Biden.

[Suburbia]

War was created for and by rich people.

True, but you still need a military.

China, Russia are the enemies of the U.S., I hope Cori understands that. It's not whites or the police.

[Suburbia]

What a joke. I fear for the future of the Democratic Party if people like her are ever in charge of it.

She is one of the reasons why the Republican Party is not going anywhere

[TiltsAreUnderrated]

This is why we need to move away from "defund".

You still need a snappy, concrete and galvanising alternative and anything like "Cut the Pentagon," is going to provoke similar reactions, although probably not to the same extent. The goal should be to promote substantial reforms many can get behind and Representatives can be pushed towards, but they're unlikely to catch fire if they can only be properly expressed in long form. Great examples of what not to do here are some of Harris' plans from the primaries - pretty solid policy wonkery but really hard to boil down (particularly her healthcare proposal), unlike the best of Warren's pitches.

If it can't spread to primary voters who aren't into 80-page policy documents, its influence will be limited. If it's a weak rallying cry like "expanding access to healthcare," it will easily be boiled down into nothing by those who wish to do nothing.

My wing of the party has a major messaging problem and it needs to be fixed if we're going to want to beat Kamala/Mayor Pete/whichever establishment-wing candidate they put up after Biden.

I agree that it wouldn't be helpful at all in a presidential primary where there are a mix of other factors messing with the dynamics like electability etc., but I don't think Bush is angling for this. It's a big reason to doubt the strength of an AOC bid, though.

[Hope For A New Era]

STOP USING THE WORD "DEFUND" FFS

[walleye26]

STOP USING THE WORD "DEFUND" FFS

This times 1,000.

[coloradocowboi]

Calling her a moron for wanting to decrease the budget of a bloated, useless institution whose own paid cronies in academia advocate the exact same is PROOF that so many of you who treat politics like fan football or an MMO rather than something that actually impacts people's lives.

Cori Bush is an icon, a treasure to working people everywhere, and smarter than all of you who think you know so much lol

[Xing]

I do think people need to stop using “defund” instead of “reduce funding.” It gives their detractors that much more ammo. Obviously she doesn’t mean make funding for the Pentagon literally $0, and the military budget is bloated, but people tend to take the word “defund” literally, so people need to find a better way of describing this.

[WD]

Calling her a moron for wanting to decrease the budget of a bloated, useless institution whose own paid cronies in academia advocate the exact same is PROOF that so many of you who treat politics like fan football or an MMO rather than something that actually impacts people's lives.

Cori Bush is an icon, a treasure to working people everywhere, and smarter than all of you who think you know so much lol

Imagine actually believing this. When she said defund, she clearly meant to remove all funding from the Pentagon, not just “decrease” the budget. And yes, she is a moron, as is any other politician who would propose such a thing.