Just when you thought our government didn’t have a dime left to spend – voila! – another $264.7 billion magically appears, ushering in a new (yet strangely familiar) period of exorbitant military expenditures.

Amazing as it sounds in this era of deep budget cuts and government downsizing, the Senate Armed Services Committee just approved a bill for fiscal year ’96 which allocates at least $7 billion more to the military than even Pentagon officials had requested.

Some of the nice new toys that we’ll receive from this military extravaganza include:

* More B-2 stealth bombers, the war machines originally designed to attack the Soviet Union after the onset of a nuclear strike. (Incidentally, both the Air Force and the Department of Defense have said that B-2 bombers are too costly and completely unsuitable for our national security needs.)

* An additional Seawolf attack submarine. (This pork-barrel project, estimated at $2.4 billion, has been dismissed by the U.S. Navy as unnecessary.)

* The LHD-7 amphibious assault ship. (A $1.3 billion beauty that once again, was not even requested.)

* Two Aegis destroyers. (Valued at $375 million a pop.)

* More FA-18 Marine Corps fighter bombers. (Tack on another $500 million.)

If this seems excessive, the House has already approved an even larger military budget, which includes a number of spending absurdities of its own.

To name only two:

* Brand spanking new F-22 fighters, combat aircraft designed to replace our current F-15 fighters. (Just a note: our F-15 array is expected to remain the world’s best fighter contingent for at least 20 more years, which means that investment now in a legion of F-22s will waste decades of service life

of top-of-the-line aircraft and literally tens of billions of taxpayer dollars.)

* A $453 million national ballistic missile defense system, which some observers note may undermine our current Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty with Russia. (As an aside, the ABM treaty helped lay the groundwork for later reductions in both Soviet and U.S. nuclear arsenals. Slighting this treaty by developing a ballistic defense system would give Russia a strong incentive to develop even more new weapons systems of their own.)

All this amounts to reckless Cold War-era spending in an age when such policies are wholly uncalled for. Of course, one can hardly expect anything less from today’s PAC-driven politicians.

What’s worse is that while needless billions are being doled out to wealthy “defense” contractors, billions more are being slashed from Medicare, Medicaid, Aid to Families of Dependent Children, national home heating assistance, job training, legal assistance and a host of other programs designed to help society’s most vulnerable citizens.

Since those who benefit from these programs cannot afford to line their representatives’ pockets with millions in cash, they are appropriately being cast aside. After all, those who aren’t making vast contributions to our nation’s powerful elites have no rightful claim to a stake in our democracy anyway. One dollar, one vote after all.

Interestingly, our newfound anti-Big Government warrior, Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) hasn’t expressed a word of concern over the precipitous rise in defense spending. Perhaps his silence has something to do with the fact that his own district’s largest employer, Lockheed, designs military aircraft.

Government-tended economic development is all fine and good for wealthy sectors. It is the undeserving poor, elderly and children who must learn the discipline of the free market.

Hypocrisy reigns supreme.

Aaron Lehmer is a continuing senior in environmental studies from Ames. He is the opinion page editor of the Daily.