Raising Debt, Cutting Defense

The national events of late have turned the eyes of the country to the debt default crisis. While Congressional Republicans have so far won an important battle on debt reduction, there is a fear that the U.S. military will take a great hit. The picture above speaks for itself: our military capabilities, despite fighting a global war on terror, are roughly half of what they were twenty years ago. Our Navy now possesses a fleet which numbers as many ships as it had in 1916! Furthermore, in 1950 the military took up roughly 50% of U.S. spending. It now stands at about 22%.

The vast majority of our spending now goes to entitlement and debt payment.

When it comes to defending the nation, there's very little left to be cut. Even still, let us hope that the libertarian bent driving much of the GOP fiscal and moral policy does not work its way into foreign policy and defense spending. God created man to fight evil, and we should support any president - Democrat or Republican - who seeks to depose a tyrant. Americans should be as wary of a Ron Paul, who would leave us defensless, as much as they should be wary of a Harry Reid, who would leave us bankrupt.