Background and What Can Be Cut
Background:
--The U.S. spends almost as much as the rest of the world combined on its military.
--The military budget almost doubled during the eight years of the Bush administration.
--More than half of all U.S. annual discretionary budget spending goes to the military and war fighting.
--Tens of billions are spent on costly and unnecessary weapons systems.
--The U.S. maintains more than 800 military bases in almost 100 foreign countries.
--The U.S. pours nearly $500,000 per minute into the Iraq war.
We can cut military spending substantially without endangering the country's security, and a growing chorus is saying that we should. In November 2008, the Defense Business Board, a Pentagon oversight body, said that major systematic cuts were absolutely necessary because the Pentagon's budget was not sustainable. President Obama has cited $295 billion in annual cost overruns alone. Here is a more detailed list of potential cuts totaling $255 billion.
Withdraw in a timely fashion from Iraq = $105 billion in year one
Withdraw from Afghanistan = 25 billion
Eliminate wasteful weapons systems = 33 billion
Reduce active nuclear warheads = 16 billion
Close half of US overseas military bases = 51 billion
Trim unused air wings and sea forces = 5 billion
Eliminated waste in procurement and operations = 20 billion
--The U.S. spends almost as much as the rest of the world combined on its military.
--The military budget almost doubled during the eight years of the Bush administration.
--More than half of all U.S. annual discretionary budget spending goes to the military and war fighting.
--Tens of billions are spent on costly and unnecessary weapons systems.
--The U.S. maintains more than 800 military bases in almost 100 foreign countries.
--The U.S. pours nearly $500,000 per minute into the Iraq war.
We can cut military spending substantially without endangering the country's security, and a growing chorus is saying that we should. In November 2008, the Defense Business Board, a Pentagon oversight body, said that major systematic cuts were absolutely necessary because the Pentagon's budget was not sustainable. President Obama has cited $295 billion in annual cost overruns alone. Here is a more detailed list of potential cuts totaling $255 billion.
Withdraw in a timely fashion from Iraq = $105 billion in year one
Withdraw from Afghanistan = 25 billion
Eliminate wasteful weapons systems = 33 billion
Reduce active nuclear warheads = 16 billion
Close half of US overseas military bases = 51 billion
Trim unused air wings and sea forces = 5 billion
Eliminated waste in procurement and operations = 20 billion
Federal Discretionary Spending FY 2009
2008 Military Spending in Billions of Dollars
Additional Resources
Budget Tradeoffs and Security Spending Primer (2009) (pdf - 39 pages) at the National Priorities Project
Oct 2007 - The U.S. Employment Effects of Military and Domestic Spending Priorities (pdf - 16 pages) by Robert Pollin and Heidi Garrett-Peltier. The study finds spending $1 billion on defense creates 8,555 jobs, as opposed to 17,687 for education and 19,795 for mass transit.
Oct 2007 - The U.S. Employment Effects of Military and Domestic Spending Priorities (pdf - 16 pages) by Robert Pollin and Heidi Garrett-Peltier. The study finds spending $1 billion on defense creates 8,555 jobs, as opposed to 17,687 for education and 19,795 for mass transit.