Michael Sauers

February 22, 2026

War is a blatant conspiracy racket. As much as Trump likes to rail against the “deep state” he is their useful fool. Trump’s proposed $1.5 trillion military budget is an obscene attack on all of us, especially our children. It is an economic loser compared to education, healthcare, infrastructure and clean energy spending.

The arms lobby is likely to use all the resources at its disposal to pummel Congressional puppets to approve the full $1.5 trillion expenditure. The industry currently employs 1,000 lobbyists, almost two for every member of Congress. At least two-thirds of those lobbyists formerly served in key posts in government at the Pentagon, the National Security Council or for members of Congress.

Trump’s outlandish proposal for throwing ever more money at the Pentagon and its contractors has one staunch advocate in the media-the editorial board of The Washington Post, which posted a January 14, 2026 editorial titled, Trump Wants $1.5 Trillion For Defense, What a Bargain. It was as if the editorial had been written by an arms contractor. Actually, in a sense it was. The Post is owned by Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos, and Amazon has become a major supplier to the Pentagon through its share in a $9 billion cloud computing contract with the department. A follow up project is in the works and Amazon wants a piece of the action.

Data centers are being foisted on us. Can you guess why? Regardless of all the mind numbing arguing between Democrats and Republicans, defense/military/war spending does not fall into that morass. They are all in it. No debate! No hearings! No arguments! There are yes votes in abundance.

Speak out if you think you have a chance of blocking some or all of Trump’s over-the-top spending proposal. Call your Congressperson if you think you can get to him or her. Good luck. The battle never ends.