We’re in the middle of two raging wars, Russia is getting closer to Venzuela, we’re talking about pouring even more troops into Afghanistan, and Congress is gung-ho about spending $1 trillion to destroy our health care system.

But God forbid we continue to fund the F-22 fighter jet and other defense projects. Providing for the common defense is only, like, a constitutional obligation of the federal government. Unlike, say, providing socialized health care.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Senate Appropriations Committee voted unanimously on Thursday to kill Lockheed Martin Corp’s F-22 fighter jet, the most advanced U.S. fighter, and largely backed other program cuts sought by President Barack Obama.

By a 30 to 0 vote that took 15 minutes and featured no debate, the panel approved a $636.3 billion defense budget for fiscal 2010, which starts October 1.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the Republicans on the committee are just as useless as the liberal Democrats. They refuse to stand up for the constitutional requirement they’ve sworn to stand up for.

The measure also would kill a combat search-and-rescue helicopter, a presidential helicopter and a missile-defense project called Kinetic Energy Interceptor.

It includes $128.2 billion for “overseas contingency operations,” primarily to keep fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The legislation would cap the F-22 “Raptor” fleet at 187, down from an original Air Force Cold War-era plan to buy as many as 750 of the supersonic, radar-evading air-superiority fighters.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, announcing plans to terminate the F-22 on April 6, said doing so was “not a close call.” He said the military should gear up more for wars such as those in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The bill, which must be reconciled with the House of Representatives’ version, provided no funds for a second, interchangeable engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

It’s funny how we can find plenty of money to expand entitlement programs but we can never seem to find enough to fully fund the defense of the United States. It’s almost like the White House and wishy-washy Republicans are more concerned with socializing our nation than actually defending it.