“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense…” This is the beginning of the preamble of the Constitution written and signed in 1787. Since then, the U.S. has had the strongest military defense out of any other nation. It’s why we were back-to-back world war champs in World War I and II. A strong defense is important—it means a strong military. America has succeeded in this because the founders understood the importance of it early on. Both President Obama and former Governor Romney have different ideas when it comes to the idea of a strong military. This is what the candidates said when asked about military in the first presidential debate.
Obama said, “We need to keep America safe.”
Romney said, “Military that is second to none.”
Both answers sound good—but actions speak louder than words. Obama’s budget plan would cut the military by nearly a trillion dollars. This is not the time to be cutting America’s military; recently, one of our ambassadors was killed overseas after repeatedly asking for better security.
Obama stated that Mitt Romney wants to “…(add) $2 trillion in additional military spending that the military hasn’t asked for.”
This is untrue. Romney has not proposed any increases. Romney is proposing no cuts as well as no increases at this time. America can simply not afford any increases in any sort of government-funded program. But the trillion dollars that Obama wants to cut is definitely not the answer to the deficit problem.
Costs constantly rise. That is true in a free enterprise economy. This leads to an increase in every type of spending by the federal government. Departments in the Federal Government receive money to fund their program. If they do not use it all, the following year they will receive fewer funds. So they will spend the money, even if they do not need to. This is a pretty unproductive way to fund something successful. Instead, the money that is not used should be put back into the treasury to pay down the ever-increasing debt the country is facing, or perhaps the deficit that the president planned to cut in half and instead has doubled during his administration. But cutting the country’s military is in no way an answer.
As a country, both democrats and republicans vowed to get the masterminds behind Sept. 11. On March 2, 2011, Navy Seal Team Six shot and killed Osama Bin Laden in a Capture or Kill Mission.
This took years of intelligence information along with interrogation in order to execute this mission. This would not have been possible without the steps that were taken during former President Bush’s administration.
Obama, with all due respect, made the right decision to take out Bin Laden, but his victory dance should have been short lived. Instead he feels the need to rub it in and not give any credit to former President Bush and his policies that made the mission possible as well aided in the successful outcome due to the strong military America has. Obama barely even gave credit to Seal Team Six who were the real heroes of that mission.
Without a strong military, America is not a nation. This is why the Constitution is written how it is. The founders believed in a strong military—a military that is second to none. A strong military not only wins wars, it also keeps other countries from starting one with America. America cannot afford to keep cutting their military to increase spending on social programs. This is the most devastating thing that can be done to a country.
In America, there is pride in the military and the people who serve this country. Nearly a trillion dollars in cuts is not what America’s military needs and it is certainly not what they deserve.
BY ALI BOETTCHER boett098@d.umn.edu