The Tea Party Now Talking Defense Cuts: It's About Time

Total spending of the United States for defense totals nearly 50% of the world's total defense budget. Our military is far superior, but it comes with a huge cost. There are really two questions that need to be posed here. First off, can't we be superior and spend 40% or even 30% of the worlds total military spending? Secondly, when will the national debt force military spending to come to a crash if we don't become responsible today and get it under control therefore losing the title superior?

The Tea Parties are finally getting the military budget needs to be slashed if we are going to pull us out of this dangerous debt situation.

From the Washington Post:

Back home, tea partiers clamoring for the debt-ridden government to slash spending say nothing should be off limits. Tea party-backed lawmakers echo that argument, and they're not exempting the military's multibillion-dollar budget in a time of war.

That demand is creating hard choices for the newest members of Congress, especially Republicans who owe their elections and solid House majority to the influential grass-roots movement. Cutting defense and canceling weapons could mean deep spending reductions and high marks from tea partiers as the nation wrestles with a $1.3 trillion deficit. Yet it also could jeopardize thousands of jobs when unemployment is running high.

Proponents of the cuts could face criticism that they're trying to weaken national security in a post-Sept. 11 world.

House Republican leaders specifically exempted defense, homeland security and veterans' programs from spending cuts in their party's "Pledge to America" campaign manifesto last fall. But the House's new majority leader, Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., has said defense programs could join others on the cutting board.

The defense budget is about $700 billion annually. Few in Congress have been willing to make cuts as U.S. troops fight in Afghanistan and finish the operation in Iraq.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, in a recent pre-emptive move, proposed $78 billion in spending cuts and an additional $100 billion in cost-saving moves. While that amounts to $13 billion less than the Pentagon wanted to spend in the coming year, it still stands as 3 percent growth after inflation is taken into account.


That's why tea party groups say if the government is going to cut spending, the military's budget needs to be part of the mix.

"The widely held sentiment among Tea Party Patriot members is that every item in the budget, including military spending and foreign aid, must be on the table," said Mark Meckler, co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots. "It is time to get serious about preserving the country for our posterity. The mentality that certain programs are 'off the table' must be taken off the table."

Thanks Mr. Meckler for speaking up. It's about time the Tea Party starts making military spending an issue.