The U.S. Military Budget Is Bloated (And Unnecessary)

Last Monday, Donald Trump signed the newest military budget for this country. It was a whopping $716 billion. That about four or five times the budget of the next largest spending country -- in fact, it would take about the next dozen biggest military-spending countries to equal the U.S. military budget. And it compromises more than half of the government's discretionary spending.

Trump and the congressional Republicans will tell you that huge budget is necessary for our national defense. That is a lie! The truth is that we could probably cut that military budget in half without harming our national defense.

Note the chart above. It shows the countries where the United States has a military presence. The U.S. has about 900 military bases around the world, and in 170 different countries. Is that really necessary for the national defense? Of course not. That's not defense -- it's empire-building. The number of military bases could be cut in half, and there would still be enough to have an average of three bases in every one of those countries.

Another huge part of the military budget goes to the military-industrial complex. Part of this money needs to be spent to give our soldiers the tools they need. But part of it goes to make weapons and systems that don't work, aren't needed, and are not wanted by the military. Why? Because too many in Congress want to protect jobs in their districts -- even when those jobs are not necessary for our national defense.

There is no reason why our military budget should be so big. Other countries are also concerned with their defense, but they also are concerned with the well-being of their citizens -- and they don't sacrifice the needs of their citizens to feed their military (and its suppliers).

We do it differently in the U.S. -- giving the military more than it needs, while providing less than is needed for our citizens. We could scale back some of our military spending, and provide adequate help for our own citizens -- and that's what we should do. We could be providing all citizens with adequate health care, making sure that no one goes with food or decent housing, and providing an affordable education for students -- but we choose instead to feed the corporations and bully the rest of the world with our military. That must stop!