You And Military Spending

Republican Senator John McCain is on a “Preserving America’s Strength” roadshow, sounding the alarm that congressional cuts to the defense dept. mandated to begin in January by the 2011 Budget Control Act, would weaken our defenses, cost jobs, and break faith with our military service members and their families. “A terrible, terrible calamity!” to quote John McCain.

As to the claim that defense dept. cuts would weaken our defenses, it can also be argued that our foreign invasions and occupations over the last decade have created many more enemies than friends. Bringing our troops home from foreign lands would actually make us safer, save lives, and save lots of money.

As to the claim about costing jobs, defense dept related jobs already come at a high cost to employment. According to a UMass Amherst study, military spending is the least efficient jobs creator of any sector of our economy. One reason for this is that military spending is the most efficient profits generator. By its own admission, the Pentagon spends too much money to keep track of. Cost plus contracts are monitored to the extent that, while over charging on military contracts are sometimes met with heavy fines, the offending contractors are often awarded even more lucrative contracts.   Investments in education, health care, infrastructure repair, and renewable energy all yield many more jobs than military spending. Even returning tax dollars to citizens as refunds creates more jobs than an equivalent amount spent on the military, as increased consumer spending creates greater demand in the civilian economy.

Furthermore, we have already broken faith with our military service men and women, by sending them overseas on the basis of false claims. We continue to break faith with these brave souls when we fail to fully address their injuries when they return from multiple deployments overseas. The fact that one service member and 17 veterans take their own lives every day signals, perhaps, our greatest national shame.

Austerity hawks in Congress want to increase military spending, already double what it was ten years ago.   The US already spends 57% of its discretionary budget on the military, and according to an analysis by National Priorities Project we devote one third of all our spending to the military, $1.2 trillion per year.   This massive amount of money dwarfs what all other countries combined spend on their militaries.  Why?

Why do we have 1,000 military bases in 150 nations overseas?   Why do we feel the urge to “project power” over the globe?  Maintaining this garrison of the planet, and claiming for ourselves the privilege to police the world, is sowing the seeds of our own bankruptcy and destruction.  But if we can agree to sharpen our pruning hooks, and begin to trim this overgrown tree of militarism, there is still hope for us.

Let’s bring our troops home, provide the best possible health care and education for them and their families, and encourage our military contractors to seek peaceful, civilian applications for new products and services.

This article was adapted from the blog of:  John Heuer, Director, North Carolina Peace Action, Eisenhower Chapter, Veterans For Peace  http://www.bluenc.com/response-senators-preserving-americas-strength-roadshow#ixzz23TB48mrB

Call your Congressperson at 202-224-3121 and say that you want military spending CUT.

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