Grogan Orrock: The indefensible level of Pentagon spending
By Nan Grogan Orrock Guest Commentary August 29, 2012 8:14PM
Nan Grogan Orrock is a state senator in Georgia and president of the Women Legislators’ Lobby, a national non-partisan network of female state legislators.
Updated: October 1, 2012 5:32PM
Amid this summer’s nationwide heat wave, we’ve certainly relished the air-conditioned relief indoors. As the toll of heat-related deaths has risen, how many of us know that Congress is proposing budget cuts to the federal assistance program for air conditioning and heating bills for struggling families?
Yes, budget decisions in Washington, D.C., can have a devastating impact here close to home. What budget priorities will do the most to meet the needs of our people and guarantee American’s freedom and strength for years to come?
It’s time to take a closer look at Pentagon spending, which includes funding for wars and nuclear weapons. This budget has grown unchecked since 1998 at a cost of trillions of dollars to taxpayers. And while Congress is proposing sharp cuts to essential social programs, the Pentagon gets another handout from the budget writers.
Our nation’s greatness and future security are not aided by a bloated nuclear arsenal, unnecessary weapons systems and endless war. Our future will be best served with investments in education, jobs, health care, science and technology, and a clean environment. To make those investments, we must cut excessive military spending.
As president of the Women Legislators’ Lobby and a Georgia state senator, I work with legislators across the country. In nearly every state, they are battling budget shortfalls year after year. After 9/11, state budgets have taken on substantial costs for homeland security measures. National Guard and other returning veterans need state and local services.
The women state legislators in our national network understand that increases in Pentagon spending mean that their strapped state budgets get further shortchanged. With the impacts of the Great Recession and the end of stimulus funding, states cannot afford the devastating cutbacks that would come with the “Ryan budget” or the planned sequestration cuts to non-defense spending.
The Ryan budget increases Pentagon spending for the coming year by roughly $8 billion more than what was agreed to last August in the Budget Control Act. That difference would be paid for by slashing even further every other spending priority.
The result, among many others, would be suffering families who no longer could get help with their air conditioning bills. A small consequence, you might think, unless you and your loved ones are smothering in an apartment or sun-baked house with nowhere to turn for help.
The House approach also exempts the Pentagon from the looming automatic spending cuts by taking more from all other programs and investments. Congress will have to slash from K-12 and higher education, national parks and clean water programs, medical and scientific research, clean energy — you name it. Everything would be cut while the Pentagon trough gets filled without a murmur.
We all want a common defense that works. We agree that veterans and their families deserve the best in recognition of their sacrifice. They also deserve to come home to a strong, vibrant economy with plenty of job opportunities.
What we don’t want are costly and unnecessary weapons that don’t meet today’s security needs, mismanaged projects that go far over budget, and defense industry lobbyists lining their pockets at our expense. Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates says of the Pentagon, “We can’t hold ourselves exempt from the belt-tightening. Neither can we allow ourselves to contribute to the very debt that puts our long-term security at risk.”
What we do want are jobs. Some claim that cutting excessive military spending means losing good jobs. On the contrary, economic studies have shown that federal investment in other sectors such as education, health care and clean energy create more jobs than federal dollars spent in the military sector. These are the sustainable jobs that we need for our future.
It’s time to hold a magnifying glass to Pentagon spending. Other domestic spending is equally important to the future of our nation. Jobs, education, health care, a clean environment, safe roads and bridges and mass transit are all a part of our national security. These are essential components of fulfilling our nation’s obligation to secure a bright future for America.
Congress must responsibly reduce Pentagon spending. How can we tolerate the wealthiest nation in the world having people die from neglect or lack of medical care while maintaining a military budget that outspends the rest of the world many times over? Let’s send the message to our members of Congress that squandering our tax dollars on wasteful military spending is no longer acceptable.
Nan Grogan Orrock is a state senator in Georgia and president of the Women Legislators’ Lobby, a national non-partisan network of female state legislators.
