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Military spending: How much does it really cost communities?
By William Gregory
4/29/10
“This business of burning human beings with napalm, of filling our nation’s homes with orphans and widows,… of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice, and love. A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.”
--Martin Luther King, Jr., 1967.
Recently, I was listening to one of my favorite radio programs-Democracy Now- on the radio. The topic was about the cost of military spending in the United States. The hosts of the program are Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez; they were interviewing Mayor Matt Ryan of Binghamton, New York, on Tax Day –April 15. The Mayor has taken the unusual step to remind the city’s residents about the expanding costs of those wars.
In April the city of Binghampton (population 47, 800) plans to install a large digital “cost of war” counter on the face of city hall. The counter will show that the residents of this city have already spent $138 million on the wars since 2001.
Amy Goodman, asked Mayor Ryan about the clock-counter. “Well, this clock will allow us to display the cost of war for our citizens and explains to them exactly what the tradeoffs are for these costs. And we’ve had nine years now of a military budget that I believe is out of control. And we can’t make those same mistakes if we’re going to meet our goals to take care of our citizens, provide good infrastructure and public safety and all the services that they deserve. So this is just a reminder to the citizens and trying to start a debate about what actually is being spent. I don’t think people reflect on it every day, that we are spending almost 60 cents out of every tax dollar on the military. And that is just not sustainable...” Source: Democracy Now. April 15, 2010.
According to the National Priorities Project the United States has collectively spent more than $I.005 trillion dollars on just the wars in occupied Iraq and Afghanistan. Also, note that, the 2001 Nobel Prize winner in Economics- Columbia University Professor Joseph Stiglitz, has estimated that, this cost could escalate to $3 trillion dollars for the Iraq war alone!
I started to think, how much do we spend on a yearly basis on the military? When you look at the National Security Outlays (military spending) in Fiscal Year 2009 it breaks down like this, in billions of dollars.
The Department of Defense has spent-$636.5. Billion; Dept. of Energy (nuclear weapons and environmental clean-up) -$16.7 billion. Department of State (plus international assistance) $36.3 billion. Dept. of Veteran’s Affairs-$95.5billion. The Dept. of Homeland Security has spent $51.7billion. Department of the Treasury (for military Retirement fund) $54.9billion. National Aeronautics Space Administration-$9.6 billion. The net interest attributable to past debt-financed defense outlays is-$126.3billion.
Total: $1.027 trillion. Source: U.S. Office of Management and Budget.
According to author Dave Lindorff, military spending in all its forms works out to over 53.3% of total U.S. federal spending.
Lindorff states, that, “military spending isn’t just half the U.S. budget. It is also half the entire global spending on war and weaponry. In 2009, according to the War Resisters League, U.S. military spending accounted for 47% of all money spent globally on war and weapons and military preparedness. “
Lindorff compares what other countries spend; a brief look is informative for the citizenry.
“China spends $130 billion; Russia spends less than$80 billion and Iran which the White House and Congress are portraying as America’s “arch enemy”, isn’t even on the list of the 17 biggest military spenders. Iran’s current military budget is a teeny $4.8 billion, about the same as the estimated $5 billion spent on the military by North Korea—America’s other “major enemy.” Source: Common Dreams: “Your Tax Dollars at War. More than 53% of Your Tax Payment Goes to the Military.” April 13, 2010. Common Dreams
Finally, I went to the National Priorities Project.org web site to learn more. I wanted to know how much the wars were costing us here in Solano County in general and in Benicia more specifically. By linking to the “cost of war,” you can see-- what state, county and city-- costs would be over the past nine years.
The cost for California is- $125.019 Billion. ** This cost is calculated by each state’s share of taxes paid into federal funds revenues (based on IRS data). This includes income taxes, corporate income taxes, excise, gift and estate taxes. **
The cost for Solano Co. is-$ 1.652 Billion. **The city and county calculations are based on the population and median household income of the city relative to the state. **
The cost for Benicia is - $140.574 Million.
It is important to note, that these figures- increase daily (actually by the second, see the cost of war- counter at the site). The above amounts are from Sunday April 25.
I also found this data from the Notes and Sources page to be pertinent. Spending includes only incremental costs, those additional funds that are expended due to war. For example, soldier’s regular pay is not included but combat pay is included. Potential future costs, such as future medical care for soldiers and veterans wounded in the war, are not included. These numbers do not account for the wars being “deficit-financed” or that taxpayers will need to make additional interest payments for the national debt due to these deficits.
When we consider our present massive economic meltdown-- and ,that 48 of the 50 states in our country are facing serious ongoing state budget crises— with tens of millions of workers un-employed or under employed with wages that have been stagnant for the past 30 years; it is simply not possible to maintain President George W. Bush multi-billion tax cuts (still in place under the Obama administration) and an endless string of “regime change” in the Middle East and Southwest Asia paid for through emergency appropriations ($30 billion estimated for the “surge” in troop levels in Afghanistan) over and beyond the above Pentagon spending and still expect to maintain traditional responsibilities that our citizens and communities in this country need,deserve and, indeed, have paid for through their taxes.
In closing, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, warned the citizenry against the establishment of a military –industrial complex.
From: A televised Farewell Address to the Nation, January 17, 1961.
“This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence—economic, political, even spiritual – is felt in every city, State house, every office of the Federal government…
In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.”
Nearly 50 years after his speech, his words of wisdom have been ignored at our peril.
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