The House of Representatives approved HR 5856 on July 19th, appropriating $606 billion for the Pentagon. This includes $88 billion for our 11-year war in Afghanistan, but does not include other war-related expenses, like VA services for 400,000 PTSD-afflicted veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan.

The country with the next-largest military budget, China, recently announced a military budget of $106 billion, though the Pentagon says it’s really $160 billion. Well, let’s take the Pentagon’s word for it. After all, it must be right because it’s the only federal agency that’s never been audited.

So, every man, woman and child’s share of the military budget will be $1,931 per year, and that’s too much!

My proposal is let’s have a military budget that’s TRIPLE the size of China’s. 3 x $160 billion = $480 billion. We would save $126 billion, and still be spending $1,530 per capita on military, vs. $119 per capita in China. Our military spending is not buying us national security, and it has crossed into immorality. Setting those two concerns aside (as it seems we have been all too willing to do), we cannot afford to throw money down the drain like this anymore.

Tell Senators Harkin and Grassley to vote NO when the Pentagon spending bill comes to the Senate.

Sen. Chuck Grassley  202-224-3744   Contact form
Sen. Tom Harkin     202-224-3254       Contact form