The Enlightenment

Back during the pandemic, I wrote about how Congress thoroughly embarrassed itself by going on vacation during the opening months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Well, they’ve done it again, folks. A few days ago, Democrats and Republicans in the House teamed up to pass an $886 billion war budget.

$886 billion dollars for war. You know, not a lot of things coming out of Congress faze me anymore. But every time I see the military budget, I still can’t help but gawk.

What the hell do we need $886 billion for? To any American citizen reading this: are you content that $886 billion of your taxes are going to the War Department? Are you okay with the fact that the budget continues to skyrocket despite the fact that, save for the conflict in Ukraine, we are at peace?

More Americans need to know the facts about our war spending. Did you know, for example, that the War Department has failed five consecutive audits? Not even the War Department knows where it’s own money is going!

And did you know that companies that supply weapons for the War Department constantly overcharge the government? Weapons suppliers routinely overcharge the War Department for up to 4,000% of what it cost to produce the weapon!

The War Department doesn’t even want this much money! Year after year they put in requests for money, and Congress routinely adds tens of billions of dollars to the War Department’s requests for no reason.

Let’s call this for what it is: a grift. Congress is bribed by American weapons suppliers and suckered in by the jobs that flow into their districts out of the weapons industry. They are too scared, lazy, unwilling, or apathetic to stand up to the industry, so they sell us out instead.

This is an $886 billion clown show, the most expensive circus on Earth. This is nothing more than the lashings out of an Empire in decline. The poor are growing poorer, democracy is growing weaker, our infrastructure is crumbling, and the planet is melting, and yet our Congress is more concerned with upholding the fantasy that America is still wealthy enough to police the globe.

We have to stop infantilizing other nations and scale back our global commitments. Furthermore, the endless funding to the War Department MUST end. Instead of “spreading democracy overseas”, invest some of that damn money into us!