Sacred Defense

Wynn Quigley had a good column in the Journal today about how no one talks about the Defense Department when looking for ways to manage the federal budget.  Quigley is a thoughful and non name calling writer that I wish the Journal would let others be like on their editorial page.

Quigley is absolutely right in his assertions that Defense needs a going over for largesse.  The Center for Arms Control and Non Proliferation puts it this way.

"In 2008, the most recent year for which complete global data is available, the U.S. approved $696.3 billion in defense budget authority (fiscal 2010 dollars). This figure includes funding for the Pentagon base budget, Department of Energy-administered nuclear weapons activities, and supplemental appropriations for Iraq and Afghanistan.

This number is eight times more than Russia, 15 times more than Japan, 47 times more than Israel, and nearly 73 times more than Iran.

In inflation-adjusted dollars, the total U.S. defense budget has grown from $432 billion in fiscal 2001 to $720 billion in fiscal 2011, a real increase of approximately 67 percent. The Congressional Budget Office has regularly warned that discretionary spending will come under increased pressure in the coming years. The legacy of the recent economic crisis will be a high and rising debt that must be addressed across the board."

This group has a great website.  Look at it here.