Cut the Defense Budget in Half?
Sunday, February 16, 2025 10:06 AM
Friends + Interlocutors,
Elon Musk has recently proclaimed that the U.S. defense budget could be cut in half. That may well be true. Trump says he agrees. There is no way to know if such a conclusion makes sense because the Pentagon budget is out of control. Supposedly, it has never been audited.
This is not a new problem. Can you imagine what would happen to the American economy if the White House and the Congress slammed the breaks on “defense” spending? We are living in a welfare-warfare state. Realistically, welfare cannot be substantially cut. Folks would suffer, even die. But Defense spending should be able to be trimmed. But again, cutting back might tank the economy which is significantly dependent on “defense” spending.
I wrote an article back in 2011, Corporate Warfare and U.S. Foreign Policy, which addresses the issue.
Pentagon expert Chuck Spinney had important input. He is an expert. He claims that it is not America’s errant foreign policy since the end of the Cold War that is driving the train. The problem is the self-perpetuating requirement to spend money…to keep the money flowing so as to stimulate the economy.
The question is, if the Pentagon budget were cut in half, as Musk suggests, would the American economy tank? And wouldn’t that put an end to MAGA? So what are the chances of Trump doing it?
Patrick
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