Target defense spending

The Iraq and Afghanistan wars were never included in George W. Bush’s annual budgets. This is called “lying by omission,” since taxpayers are paying for something that they weren’t told about. Obama puts the debt on the books – to date, the total cost of the Iraq/Afghanistan wars allocated by Congress is $1.09 trillion. Obama tells the truth, and though that’s what voters claim they want, he’s blamed for driving up the deficit.

Most of the U.S. military budget isn’t controlled by Congress, let alone the president. Fiscal year 2010 will see between $1.01 trillion and $1.35 trillion in military spending. Why? Because the military industrial complex has strategically sited bases all over the planet to make sure local economies depend on them. Think Fairchild.

Ever met a Republican who didn’t like defense spending? I haven’t. We spend six times what China does on defense, and they are No. 2 on the Giant Defense Spending list. Six times! How ridiculous is this?

I could call Republicans sleazy, smirking, overspending, totalitarian, fundamentalist revisionist warmongers who are out of touch with reality, but that would be name-calling.

And I believe that conveying the facts is more important than satisfying my inner child.

Nancy Runyan

Spokane Valley