Spending on weapons has not brought us security The budget disparities between military contractors and domestic spending that Ms. Koshgarian outlined are shocking ( “Opinion: Lindsay Koshgarian: Last year, you spent more than a month’s rent on Pentagon contractors” ). It’s clear that shoveling more and more money each year toward defense contractors is hampering our ability to fund crucial priorities like child poverty reduction, wildfire management, renewable energy, education, healthcare and more.
After more than 20 years of the failed war on terror, it’s clear that ever-increasing spending on weapons of war has not brought us security, so it’s time to do some hard thinking about what actually does make us secure and shift our national budget accordingly. As a Marshall Fire evacuee, I would put wildfire mitigation and response plus clean energy at the top of the list. Given these budget disparities, I was even more shocked to learn that Congress requires the Pentagon to submit extra wish lists each year called Unfunded Priorities Lists (UPLs) on top of the President’s military budget request, which is closing in on $900 billion.
This year’s UPLs total about $30 billion, an amount that could power nearly 70 million households with wind power for one year, according to the National Priorities Project . No other government entity gets a second bite at the apple on top of a gargantuan first bite. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin supports repealing this UPL sub.
