Immodest proposal: Cutting military spending

Christian Century, May 12, 1999 by James L. Hecht

Though no information has been released as to the composition of the NATO forces being used, it is obvious that the U.S. is carrying most of the load. It is difficult to rationalize why America should contribute as much as half of the forces. Consider: the U.S. is providing more than its share for European security, but has not yet found the resources to provide health care for all its citizens--something most of our NATO allies do provide.

What can people do to reduce the military budget besides letting members of Congress know that they should vote for less money for the Pentagon rather than more (as President Clinton requested in his State of the Union message)?

First, we must support not only reducing money for defense spending but also increasing expenditures for programs that will make cutting the military budget easier. One such program would be a generous package of severance pay, job training and educational benefits to defense workers and military personnel who lose their jobs. That would decrease the pressure on members of Congress to support unneeded military spending. Congress should take a lesson from how American business downsizes: be willing to spend up front to reap far larger savings later. To permanently get rid of $1 billion in military spending a year, it would be worthwhile to provide benefits of as much as $1 billion over a few years to those who would be hurt by the cuts.

If this were done, tens of billions of dollars could be put to work meeting vital social needs. This move would help the economy. Studies show that $1 billion spent for military procurement creates about 25,000 jobs. Spent on education, this same sum creates over 40,000 jobs; if spent on health care, it creates over 45,000 jobs. In addition, those who shift from defense work to other fields, particularly if they have additional training, would bring many needed skills to the workforce.

Spending should also be increased on international military efforts. The long-range goal should be to meet our global responsibilities by supporting a global military force. This would not only reduce costs in the long run but increase our security. This might be achieved through a reformed United Nations. Until that happens, we can more fully cooperate with other nations in various ways, such as ending our indebtedness to the UN and supporting international efforts to ban landmines.

A second way to help reduce military spending is to support organizations that are working to counter the army of lobbyists who represent the military-industrial complex. Two tax-exempt organizations devote almost their entire effort to reducing military spending.

The oldest of these is the Center for Defense Information, in Washington, which was founded in 1972 by retired military officers. With a research staff of at least six, CDI pinpoints situations in which military spending is wastful and sends this information to a mailing list of the media and the organization's supporters. CDI also produces videos for television, which are used by a number of public broadcast stations. Dale Bumpers, former Democratic senator from Arkansas, recently joined CDI as its new director.