United States Military Spending in 2007

Every time I turn on the news, I hear how the United States cannot afford health care, cannot afford entitlements, for all of its citizens. I hear constantly how the federal budget deficit is ballooning; I hear how the choice is tax cuts and reduced spending (usually for entitlements) or so-called big government.

What about another option?

Let’s get radical… let’s not talk about the so-called “third rail,” social security. Let’s talk about the $711 Billion annually that we spend on the military. This is nearly as much as the rest of the world does, 6 times as much as the Chinese, and more than twice as much as all of Europe.

When was the last time that you heard politicians talking about slashing this budget (though Republicans have quietly “privatized” the military — outsourcing torture and other core duties to contractors who are beyond the law)?

Think only a bit more deeply and you’ll realize that this gross overspending by Americans on defense did not begin last year or in the last several years. It has been a trend since the Cold War began in the late 1940s. That trend eventually bankrupted the Soviet Union, leading to the end of the Cold War. So, guess who will be the next bankrupt nation?

And, it won’t be because of health care, tax cuts, or entitlements. Defense accounts, historically, for about half of all government discretionary spending. Half… imagine if you spent half of all your discretionary income for a home security system or even for home security, car security, and personal security? You’d bankrupt yourself, because such spending levels are unsustainable.

Of course, budgets are more complicated than mere numbers, and US defense spending, as a percent of GDP, is slightly larger but in line with many other countries. But, that can be deceiving because the US economy is so much larger than the rest of the world.

Also, societal and political priorities are reflected in budgets (guns over health care, for example), which is why dropping this number would not be easy. (I would argue that we are an exceptionally militaristic society, with national identity tied closely to war and military excellence.)  Also, lowering this money might mean trade-offs in US policy, which are real decisions with real consequences. But, simply hiding behind patriotism and “protecting the homeland” are not sufficient reasons to spend so much money (and some of the money almost certainly benefits the greater good.)

But, here is the point, let’s put this $$ on the table and see if we as a society can’t reprioritize our spending.

For some quick and rough links:
http://www.truthandpolitics.org/military-relative-size.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_budget_of_the_United_States
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2005/pdf/hist.pdf

… these are just starters on the US military budget and federal budgets more generally.

thanks to bitchphd for posting the military spending jpeg.