The Pentagon's Black Budget

Mr. Weiner defined the “black budget” as the classified budget of the Pentagon for secret defense programs and weapons systems. Mr. Weiner talked about the dramatic increase in the “black budget” during the 1980s under the Reagan administration. He spoke about the tension between the public’s right to know and the desire for national security. Gen. Odom talked about the constitutional basis for secrecy in the military budget. He spoke about the importance of intelligence and covert activity to U.S. security and argued that the “big money” is generally not in these areas. close