House Set to Debate Paul Ryan's 2012 Budget

Will it ever be possible for Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill to confront, in budgetary discussions and debate, our outrageous spending on "National Security"? I'm beginning to wonder why it is they just won't do more than pick around the edges of our annual $1 trillion (and always growing) expenditure on that grand collection of five: National Defense, Homeland Security, Nation Building, Veterans Affairs, and Foreign Aid designed to gain the cooperation of other countries. We spend more than the rest of the world COMBINED on that quintet, and we do so all because we project our power everywhere in the world, ending up in intervention after intervention, even outright wars.

Just how much spending is necessary on National Security? Enough to assure that we remain intervener-in-chief and retain top dog status at a time when we're the world's biggest debtor nation at $14.5 trillion and running an annual deficit of $1.5 trillion? Or just enough to assure that we have a strong National Defense? There's a huge difference, you know, particularly when we're showing eagerness to attack dreaded "entitlements" without doing the same with National Security, expenditures on which have been growing ever since the years following WWII.

Whatever the nature of the debate in the House, you'll not hear anyone comparing our spending on National Defense with China's, I'll bet. And that's because they spend just 18% of what the U.S. does on it per year--the country holding much of our national debt! You'll also not hear such tidbits of information like the fact that we outspend Great Britain 50 to 1 on Intelligence. Quite an extravagance for a country trying to cut spending!

Being SuperPower on call seemed tolerable enough when we were flush, running budget surpluses instead of huge deficits. Those who favor a strong America, like me, owe us all an explanation of what it is our government is up to in outspending the rest of the world COMBINED on National Security. They owe us an explanation of why foreign policy decisions have accumulated over the years to be one of the big drivers behind our national debt.

Do you think any of what I've just said will be part of what we'll hear in House debate?

Ron W. Smith of UT 4:01PM April 14, 2011