The US Department of Commerce indicates that a billion dollars in tax revenue allocated to the military creates 8,500 jobs, as opposed to 12,900 jobs created by the same dollars invested in education. Ron Paul and Barney Frank (unlikely team-mates in any fantasy league)  spearheaded the Sustainable Defense Task Force,  which detailed a very conservative path to cut $1 Trillion from war expenditures over the next decade (that $1 T did not include the savings from the cessation of the Iraq & Afghanistan wars).
 
The $1 Trillion figure has been mentioned a few times.  A recap: 

 – FY 2010 Federal Deficit hit $1 T as of June 30th
 – Costs for national “Defense” have gone over $1T for the first time in history
 – Sustainable Defense Task Force details how to save $1 T in next 10 years
 – Direct costs to US of our Iraq & Afghanistan wars passed the $1 T mark a few months ago

There is a myriad of reasons for getting control of the military budget (and thus of the military) beyond economic common sense.  If a trillion dollars is what it really takes to keep the US secure, heck, let’s spend it.  But how does one justify the US spending as much on war as the rest of the world combined?  How do we justify 800 bases overseas?.  How can we spend so much money on security and be utterly defenseless against a hole in the ocean a few miles from our shore?   How can we justify spending $1T per year on a Defense Department that has NEVER been audited?   How can we throw billions more into an Afghanistan war that is based on our making the Afghan government incorruptible when we allocate a new $100 million to Blackwater for “our” security there? 

If we believe in peace, let’s invest a bit in it.  Investing $1 T per year in war ensures we will have continuous wars.

A fair and progressive tax system, investing in peace, and using savings from decreased war spending to reduce need for deficits will make US more secure.  Social Security’s solvency is sound for the next 26 years.  Let’s tweak its funding (what would an increase from the current $106,800 cap to $200,000 produce, and maybe a 1% surtax on capital gains?) and make Social Security secure. 

Let’s not follow the lead of that wonderful John Boehner who said that “ensuring there’s enough money for the war will require reforming the country’s entitlement system.”  And yell at any Democratic politician who wants to up the Social Security age to 70.  They would give away the farm, as they did when they gave up “single-payer” without negotiation in the medical bill fight.

Lastly, it needs to be stated that we need new stimulus funding to tackle the chronic unemployment problem.  That may require some additional borrowing and short term deficits, but could it not be funded by pragmatic war spending cuts?  I do imagine that that would make some Chamber of Commerce member military contractors used to slurping at the public trough upset.  Another suggested read – Dana Priest’s and William Arkin’s Washington Post series on the explosive growth of military contractors since 9-11).

Ed
Flaherty
is a member of Veterans for Peace and Johnson County Democrats
Central Committee and other suspect groups. Ed is a retired banker.