Why is it that whenever Republicans talk about our nation’s need to reduce our federal debt and balance the budget, they immediately want to gut the badly needed social programs?
Why do Republicans choose to ignore the real culprit behind our nation’s high debt – the profuse amount of spending on our military?
What our government spends on social programs pales in comparison to the enormous military budget.
We need continual reductions in military spending.
Although the U.S. remains the world’s greatest military power, our nation no longer is the super-power it once was. We are not the world’s policemen, and we should stop trying to be.
We have an over-abundance of military personnel in Europe, and other places where they should be withdrawn or their numbers reduced.
In addition, too much money is wasted on military hardware and defense contractors – whose lobbyists make sure an ample supply of cash is donated to the re-election campaigns of many Republicans and some Democrats.
The excessive amounts spent on the military should be re-directed to infrastructure and job training projects here at home – to provide more work and better jobs for our unemployed, under-employed and returning military personnel.
Entirely too many of our young people join the military for two reasons: They join because they can’t afford to get the training that the military offers outside of the military. And they join because they can’t get decent-paying jobs.
Meanwhile, our news media has reported employers have millions of jobs that they can’t fill because so many in our unemployed workforce lack the proper skills.
It’s time our Congress members – especially the Republicans – reset their priorities to serve our unmet needs at home.
Darrell Berkheimer,
Butte
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