An economic discrepancy

I must preface this entry with an apology: this is merely one small matter of economical importance. There is more to this issue than what I bring up here. This is simply something that has been on my mind for a while.

I support the military, I do. My best friend from childhood is serving in the Army, and I personally can't get enough of the marvelous flying machines that the Air Force flies. I do not support war unless it is on defensive terms or for a righteous purpose (such as ousting Hitler because he was a megalomaniac who killed at will and was attempting extermination of a group of people). And if anyone cares to pay attention to President George W. Bush (which seems to be a declining number every day), one cannot help but notice that he, too, supports the military. I, however, am not in the same boat as President Bush in how much he supports the military.

The president in 2005, with the approval and support of Congress, gave $401.7 billion to the Defense Department. This was for general upkeep alone. Funding for the war came from elsewhere. That is a lot of money. This is a figure I cannot imagine (and for those who know me, you know I have a pretty good imagination). Now, I'm not necessarily demanding that spending be decreased by a lot (let's say $100 billion) because I think our current diplomatic relations require good defense upkeep. My theory behind that is another story, which maybe I will write sometime. What I would like to bring to attention here is the messed up priorities of the current administration.

In comparison to Defense spending, the president (again with the support and approval of Congress) alotted only $66.8 billion to be spend on Healthcare in 2005. It was not that long ago, if memory serves me correctly, that America was freaking out about Social Security becoming depleted. With the Baby Boomers rapidly approaching retirement, healthcare does concern me. I will begin my life career in about a year and a half, and my taxes will be used to care for those Boomers.

Let me quickly toss one more number at you before coming to my ultimate point. The total spending proposed by Bush for the 2005 budget totalled $2.4 trillion for the United States. This means that Defense spending was roughly 16.7% of America's spending versus Healthcare spending which was only roughly 2.8% of America's spending.

What I wish to bring to our attention is the complete distortion of priorities in the United States. What I propose is that we need to turn to the homefront and be concerned with internal matters of the nation. Education has been turn upside-down by No Child Left Behind (probably another blog entry someday). Healthcare is relatively non-existent compared to other industrialized countries of the world, and where it is existent, drug prices are incredibly high. Instead of policing the world, we need to police ourselves. I think America has the potential to be the premiere nation of promise that it used to be. Lady Liberty used to welcome droves of immigrants to our shores who where searching for something that their homelands could not give them. Currently Canada has a better health plan and lower drug costs than America, yet we have the larger economy. This is just a small example of a discrepancy that needs to be remedied. The answer, I know, is not easy or simple by any means. As I said in my opening apology, there is more to this matter than what little I point out.

America needs to redefine itself. We can still be the greatest, most powerful, and most promising land in the world. But if we do not re-evaluate our priorities quickly, that power will be harder and harder to come by.