Don’t Give the Pentagon a Blank Check

When President Obama proposed a freeze on discretionary spending over the next three years in his State of the Union address, he exempted the hundreds of billions spent annually on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as spending by the Pentagon.

The President’s decision to freeze domestic expenditures but not defense spending is wrong, especially when the total for next year exceeds $733 billion, including almost $160 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Exempting defense spending from the budget axe does not make sense when the country is facing so much red ink. The political pressure to save Pentagon pork is tremendous despite the many weapons programs that are faulty.

Since September 11th 2001 the Pentagon’s budget has more than doubled, from $333 billion to $733 billion in just nine years. At the same time, our economy has suffered the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression. Any serious attempt to spur an economic recovery has to take the massive defense budget seriously.

Write a letter to the editor of your local paper! Explain how the exemption of the defense budget from the freeze on discretionary spending is not only illogical, but contrary to the President’s goals.

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