Ballistic Pork Defense

While Bush is proudly claiming that his budget will slash ineffective government programs and reduce the deficit (both of which are lies), it also slates that close to $9 billion will be spent on missile defense this year alone. Why? Because of its successful track record....

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush's planned ballistic missile shield suffered another setback on Monday when an interceptor missile again failed to launch during a test of the U.S. missile defense system.

The Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency said it could not complete the planned $85 million repeat of a failed December test after the interceptor missile failed to launch from its base in the Pacific Ocean.

The interceptor missile, built by Orbital Sciences Corp., had also failed to launch during a Dec. 15 test, which officials later blamed on a "very minor software glitch."