Barry Hermanson: We Need Better Priorities

U.S. Budget Priorities
The United States spends a majority of its discretionary funding for military purposes, money that could be better spent for domestic programs.

Pentagon: On Aug. 5, 2007, Democrats in Congress voted 208 to 12 to provide the Department of Defense with $460 billion in funding for the year. Next year, President George Bush is asking for $515 billion.

Iraq: Bush wants $196 billion for the war in Iraq this year. Capitulating to veto threats, House Democrats have consistently supplied money without restrictions. Total costs are projected to exceed $2 trillion. The portion of this budget already devoted to the military is approximately 60 percent.

But, according to Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi's year-end message, the "New Direction" Congress is "authorizing funds to begin increasing the size of the Army and Marine Corps." This is madness!

We have more than 800 military bases around the world. We don't need more. We spend as much as the rest of the world combined. Additional spending will not make us safer. The U.S. military has been far stronger than any potential opponent for decades. Yet, in recent years, Republicans and Democrats in Congress have doubled military spending at the expense of investing in our people. That's why I'm running for Congress.

Our strength and security depends on education, health and a vibrant economy much more than on military might. We need engineers, scientists, doctors and nurses, but our universities produce too few. Innovation and jobs in green technology can sustain the environment and grow our economy, but instead, we continue to spew pollution into our air and water.

Our infrastructure needs maintenance and improvement. It is crumbling. Our leaders in Washington say there are limited funds available for repairs and that we will have to raise taxes and increase fees. The state of California faces a $16 billion budget deficit for next year - a fairly small number compared to the massive amounts we provide for the Pentagon and for the war in Iraq.

Cities and counties are all struggling with the cuts they must make to education, health care, parks and other vital community services. By sinking our tax dollars into the quagmire of war instead of building up our nation and investing in our people, I believe the Republicans and Democrats in Congress are making us weaker instead of stronger.

Perhaps Republican legislators believe in the war, but Democrats took control of Congress in 2006 with a mandate to end it. They did not. For the last two years, Democrats in Congress have been complicit with Republicans in continuing, even escalating, this fiasco of a war that is bankrupting our country both financially and morally.

Now the president is considering bombing Iran! Electing a Green to Congress will send a strong message that we want change in the way this country is run.

The choice is simple. Do we continue to invest in military might or do we invest in people? I humbly ask for your vote on April 8. Barry Hermanson is a Green Party candidate from the Parkside District running for Congress in the April 8 special election.

For more information, go to his Web site at www.BarryHermanson.org.