Comments about ‘The strategy behind choosing Chuck Hagel’

Excellent editorial.

There are really only three types of balance-the-budget-through-cutting- goverment- spending- but-not-the-military Republicans:

1- Those who lie to the masses, telling them what they like hearing
2- Those who believe the lies
3- Those who understand the implications and really do want to take health insurance coverage away from old folks

There just aren't that many people in the third group.

If we were actually *good* at being the world's police and *good* at building nations, perhaps we could justify the trillions we spend on "defense". But we aren't good at those things at all. That being the case, let's get out of the business of empire building and focus on the well-being of Americans.

We could cut our military budget by half and still be spending 4 times as much as China.

Another option is to get our per-capita healthcare expenditures down to the level of Germany, or Australia, or Canada, or Japan, or Switzerland, or Denmark. If we did that we could afford Medicare and Defense and Infrastructure and Education.

Re: "We could cut our military budget by half and still be spending 4 times as much as China."

Yeah, so?

The problem with military cuts is twofold -- first, deeps cuts will INEVITABLY affect defensive readiness. There's no honest argument there. The only issue is how much weakness-related risk Americans are willing to assume. Liberals believe we should accept a LOT. Conservatives, less.

But, the other, more severe problem with cuts to military spending is, what will happen to the monies cut from defense? We can all agree that the precarious American economy also poses a defense risk. If military cuts were REAL cuts, having real, positive effects on the economy -- that WOULD improve our defense posture.

But, that's not what liberals have in mind.

Their aim is to flush defense cuts down any of a number of social-program toilets. Effective as a liberal vote-buying scam, to be sure, but CERTAIN to leave the American economy in an even weaker position than it now is.

Weaker defense, plus weaker economy, equals certain disaster.