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I think the extent to which %uh
the
the amount we spend
on the military the extent to which we're extended in so some seven hundred bases around the
world %uh there's about a thousand I'm told because there are secret bases too
probably %uh this is this is just the publicly available pentagon figures i think %uh
it's really
%uh there's a scholar edward corwin who %uh wrote did %uh the %uh
the constitution's allocation of foreign affairs powers are an invitation of struggle %uh
among the congress and the president well
congress is sort of set itself up to loose because %uh we have an enormous military and
a military that's extended
abroad and the president can use his commander in chief
powers to %uh
even in a let's take the case of the gulf war
uh
before any vote was taken by congress %uh
president bush george h w bush you know moved %uh
%uh two hundred and fifty four hundred thousand troops into theater and it it becomes
a very hard
for congress to %uh to
to say no at that point and so
%uh i i think %uh you know that the the size of our military force and %uh
the permanence so you know as you point out %uh
i think hamilton was an exception but most of the framers %uh
hugely distrusted standing armies and you know the constitution limits appropriations
for the military to two-year periods %uh and there was never a notion that %uh
you know you would have this %uh this extent of the military force available
you know the idea that you point out appropriations are available
and in addition to appropriations being available they take money from one pot and put it into
another and so on
the executive does
%uh
it has never worked
that %uh they used to say in the days of vietnam
well the congress if it disagrees can cut off appropriations
starting with the white fleet going around the world and roosevelt saying TR saying well
i've got enough money to send them to hawaii and if congress wants them to come back
they'll appropriate more money
that has never ever worked
yeah you you need
it's a very tough
political decision for congress and
you know the congress yeah congress has the power of the purse theoretically this is
enormous power and you'd like to say well just don't fund the war if you don't like it
%uh it's an enormously hard %uh task and the lesson in history is that
%uh even to get the %uh sort of minor uses of the power of the purse that came at the
end of the vietnam war
%uh to restrict operations in cambodia and other places things have got to get
really bad before congress is willing to %uh exercise that power that is an exception to my comment that it
never worked
I think it goes to your point though because
it was well into the vietnam war and %uh the war was over for practical purposes
yeah and so
it's never been used it's never been used to %uh to actually cut off a war that congress
hasn't authorized right in mid stride that happened in nineteen seventy three after
eight years of war and it was only to stop the bombing of cambodia
the war was
lost beyond retrieval
i think even in that %uh that legislation the president
got a certain period where he did he did he vetoed it and said look if you let me bomb till
august fifteenth I think it was
then I'll sign your bill next time so they did that
disputable interview warping listing of hamas