Periodically Congress informs us that the superiority of our armed forces has eroded, that we are losing our edge and need to spend more money upgrading. If that is the case, shouldn't we be looking at how effectively we are spending the $602 billion we already spend? If we are spending this money ineffectively shouldn't we be sacking some generals and putting in replacements who know what they are doing? Does it make sense to have strategic and intercontinental nuclear weapons that can wipe out any spot on the globe, as well as land, air and sea armies designed for conventional warfare? Will spending more money save us from Russian, Chinese and North Korean missiles?

We spend as much on defense as the top twelve nations in the world put together. Russia and China combined spend half as much as we do. The renewed demand for more money sounds like a con trick. We are all supposed to be frightened and therefore spend more money on the military industrial complex which is becoming as President Eisenhower warned a political force undermining democracy. Couldn't we be spending some of this money in more useful areas such as healthcare, infrastructure and the environment?