The Sunshine Empire

A legitimate concern with the Obama administration is the excessive spending that it seems engaged in. Some of that spending may have been needed in the short term to address the financial crisis, but as the recession ends we need to begin paring down the staggering budget deficit as much as we can. That is why I was please to see the Obama administration finally cut the giant unproven boondoggle that was the European missile defense shield. The system was on shaky technological standing and was a huge waste of money and only benefited defense contractors. Now when in power Republicans are fond of saying that they trust their commanders, but they really do nothing of the kind.

Military leaders from the Joint Chiefs to the Republican defense secretary were in favor of scrapping this system and far from backing down from the Russians, it may provide them more incentive to work with us regarding Iran. But of course despite the military saying it was a waste of money, Republicans disagree. In this day and age any defense policy change by a Democrat is instantly a sign of weakness. Much like the F-22 Raptor, the budget and what military leaders are calling for will be secondary to the interests of those manufacturers that back their Senators to bring home the bacon. The fantasy of missile defense has always been more about appropriations dollars and not reality based defense policy.

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