* The US spends more on its military than the next nine countries combined.
* The defense budget is bloated and includes plenty of money that could be better used elsewhere.
* During a national pandemic, it is unconscionable that this money isn't being spent on Americans in need.
* Savannah Wooten is an activist and nonprofit professional.
* This is an opinion column. The thoughts expressed are those of the author.
The US is, quite literally, addicted to war. While it's no secret that the country has a long history of militarism, the sheer scale of the ongoing excess is staggering. Yet the tide may finally be turning, as Americans begin to take hawkish lawmakers to task for their defense industry contributions and unfettered support for costly forever wars.
As our leaders continue to mismanage the COVID-19 crisis, it's become clear that the nation has abjectly failed to prepare for one of the most severe national security threats of our lifetimes. And it calls into question just how necessary two decades of massive defense spending increases were when the government has proven ineffective against the most deadly threat the country has faced in that time.
US warfighting since 9/11 has cost $6.4 trillion, 770,000 lives, and counting. We spend more on our military than the next nine countries combined. Every year, Congress authorizes hundreds of billions of dollars for the Pentagon, consuming most of our discretionary budget that could otherwise fund programs that meet Americans' needs.
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WNU Editor: I have lost count over the years on how many opinion posts and commentaries that I have read predicting that the US defense budget is going to be cut. It never happens. And with so many invested in the Pentagon budget to continue to grow, I just do not see it happening anytime soon.
2 Items
ReplyDelete1) Savannah Wooten is an idiot. Just glancing at the article confirmed it.
I don't check the the publication. i usually check the author. Especially, since one write or fabulist will write for several publications in a year or so.
https://www.citizen.org/about/person/savannah-wooten/
??? https://education.utexas.edu/student/savannah_wooten ???
Savannah Wooten (she/her/hers) - #PeopleOverPentagon
https://www.linkedin.com/in/savannahwooten
She/her/hers ?
Savannah is now different than BLM or Antifa. I bet there is an 80+ or 90+ overlap in policy. She is just much too delicate to man the barricades.
2) Problems with inflation and purchasing power parity aside, the Chinese are right
Rich country, strong defense
We need to pay down the debt.
We need trade balance.
We need to adopt workfare like Europe. Benjamin Franklin said that people should not be comfortable in charity, but should be chased out. Franklin was all for charity, but he was of the opinion that living off of charity should not be permanent.
Russia has cut its military budget as needed depending on its economy.
Pro tip: People working in defense go to the grocery store just like people on welfare. Earth to Nancy Pelosi. I would rather have hardware and not use it than be speaking German, Japanese, Russian or Mandarin.
Defense spending is or should be based on needs, which should be accurately determined by the quadrennial defense review.
Wooten is the type of person that will gloss over things and talk about militarism, but when you cover each aciton in detail, she will concede with ill tempered grace and MOVE ON.
Wooten is not a problem solver. She is a teat sucker.