If You Want To Cut Government Spending, You Can’t Ignore the Pentagon
Since the 1950s, every effort to reduce the size and scope of government has been bulldozed by a political establishment more concerned with furthering its own interests than those of the American people. Between sacred cows and special interest groups, we’re always told why nothing can get cut.
With the exception of Social Security, there is no bigger scared cow than the Department of Defense (DOD).
Of course, defense policy is a legitimate function of government—a textbook example of a public good. It’s hard, though not impossible, to imagine national security being provided privately. However, it doesn’t follow that every dollar spent on defense is effective or even legitimate. It’s often the reverse. Sacred-cow status grants relative immunity to the Pentagon’s waste and poor strategic spending.
This is why, despite the chaos caused by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and its often questionable approach, I for one welcome the chance to have a national conversation about Pentagon spending.
In a February 22 post on X, DOGE announced that it held a preliminary meeting with the Defense Department and that it looks forward to “working together to safely save taxpayer dollars and eliminate waste, fraud and abuse.” Heaven knows the DOD needs such supervision. Since Congress began requiring annual audits in 2018, it has never passed a single full audit.
As of late 2024, it had failed for the seventh year in a row, una
Article from Reason.com
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