Will It Be Welfare or Defense for America?

Robert Gates is retiring from the office of Secretary of Defense after serving 2 years under President G.W. Bush and 2 years under President Obama. He has made several farewell speeches laying out his opinions about the U.S.’s ability to fund both defense and the welfare state. He has warned against cuts to weapon programs and troop levels that would make America vulnerable in “a complex and unpredictable security environment.”

This year, America is spending 4.5% of our gross domestic product (GDP) on defense when the cost of the Iraq and Afghan wars are included. On the other hand, we spent 9.8% of GDP last year on entitlement spending (Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security).

If the United States were to cut our defense spending by 10%, which would absolutely gut the Defense Department budget, the cost savings would be only $55 billion. With a budget deficit this year of $1.4 trillion, that saving would not even make a dent in our fiscal problem of over-reaching debt. The financial problem we have is not over the Afghan/Iraqi war or even general spending on defense, it is obviously entitlement spending!

The Obama Administration has cut and slashed our defense budget in the last 2 years. The money for the F-22 fighter has been stopped and several promising missile defense programs have been discontinued. All this in a world where foreign powers are building up missile and nuclear war capability. I think we are going to be sorry for these administrative decisions.

There is something wrong with our democratic system of government. We send our politicians to Washington with instructions to “bring home the bacon,” in the form of entitlement, welfare, benefits for our short-term enjoyment. But when the pig is dead, there is no more bacon to bring home.

America’s global power begins at home with a strong economy able to generate wealth. The push for defense cuts reflects the weak recovery from recession and a national debt that has doubled in the last 2 years. The Obama Administration has made conscious decisions to squeeze defense while pouring money on everything else.

I think we should get back on the right track of funding defense instead of trying to fund and maintain a faulty and expensive health care bill and support an indefensible Medicare entitlement program.

This blog post was partly excerpted from the Wall Street Journal 5/28/11, pages A14 and A15.