Commentary; PERSPECTIVES ON SPENDING PRIORITIES; Guns or Butter? / While politicians in Washington are debating how to spend a surplus they hope will come over the next 15 years, they still have to pass next year's budget. Current plans are to fund huge increases in Pentagon spending (the House proposal is almost $20 billion more) by cutting domestic programs. Under all proposals being considered, more than half of the discretionary budget will go to the Pentagon while spending on education, hea Home Edition

The war in Kosovo revealed the continuing reliance our allies have on U.S. military forces--and consequently their reliance on our continuing to spend far more of our tax dollars on our military than they spend in taxes on theirs. It is time for our allies around the world to step up and bear their...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Los Angeles times
Main Author Shanahan, Jack
Format Newspaper Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, Calif Los Angeles Times Communications LLC 02.08.1999
Subjects
Budget surplus
Federal budget
Government spending
Military policy
Military weapons
Quality of life
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Summary:The war in Kosovo revealed the continuing reliance our allies have on U.S. military forces--and consequently their reliance on our continuing to spend far more of our tax dollars on our military than they spend in taxes on theirs. It is time for our allies around the world to step up and bear their share of the defense burden. Fifty years ago, it made sense for the United States to carry the bulk of the responsibility for defending Europe. At the end of World War II, our allies' economies and armies were in shambles. At the same time, the Soviets were consolidating their control over the Eastern Bloc and were a viable military threat to the rest of continent.
ISSN:0458-3035