Defense Policy Recommendations

We do not have the expertise or resources to recommend specific line-item deductions in the Department of Defense. We simply believe that the US ought to be capable of providing for our defense without spending multiples of what other countries spend. Are we really to believe that the wealthiest, most technologically advanced country in the world can only provide a competitive level of defense at spending levels so far in excess of other countries? Are we really that incapable? If the US reduces defense spending by 20% to $620 billion, we will still spend several times what Russia and China spend, and we will still spend as much as we spent in 2007. Are we really safer today than we were then?

The perpetual increases in defense spending and international military engagements now go unchallenged by both parties. This represents a departure from the past, when the Democratic Party could be depended on to make the argument for less spending and fewer wars. The loss of this voice is a principal reason that many of us now feel unrepresented by either political party. We believe it is time for both parties to address the influence of the military-industrial complex that Eisenhower warned against. It is time that we cease taking the level of military spending as a given and challenge the many assumptions that support it.