Two truths: national defense is a necessity; national defense is a racket.
The latter is the case because the former is the case. Big spenders rely on “better safe than sorry” to always push the envelope, over-investing rather than under-investing.
So, we are trapped — and our new president knows this. Before Trump ran for office, he said that sequestration cuts to the Pentagon budget had not gone far enough. But when he threw his hat into the ring, he promised to “make our military so big, so powerful, so strong that nobody — absolutely nobody — is going to mess with us.”
President Trump now proposes over fifty billion dollars in new defense spending. More soldiers, more ships, more fighter jets.
John Stossel argues that Americans are not necessarily suckers for this game. At least, a majority does not support increasing military spending.
More importantly, Stossel challenges the whole “overkill always” strategy. “America is going broke, and our military already spends almost $600 billion dollars [annually],” Stossel says. “That’s more than the next seven nations spend — combined.”
Now would be a good time to not only rethink Middle East policy, but to re-consider our expensive role as world policeman (speaking of “national” defense). During the campaign, Trump was criticized for questioning our alliances and demanding more of our allies. But he was right. I hope he’ll get tough in prodding our allies to ultimately provide their own defense.
Even more basic? Demand an audit of the Pentagon before new funds are thrown into the five-sided money pit.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
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