Changing the deficit debate

Finally, it appears that someone in Washington is willing to take on that city’s biggest sacred cow — the military.

Dan Froomkin reported yesterday on Huffington Post that U.S. Rep. Barney Frank is convening “his own bipartisan commission” that “will specifically look at ways to reduce the bloated military budget.”

Defense cuts seems to be politically off-limits these days, but the group convened by the outspoken liberal congressman from Massachusetts shares a belief that America is “overextended and overcommitted” and that there should be a “substantial reduction in the reach of American military commitments,” Frank told HuffPost.

His likely targets: unnecessary weapons systems and overseas military bases — and a savings of $100 billion a year.

Defense spending has outpaced the need for it, he says, with weapons and bases creating their own skewed justifications.

“During the Cold War, 26 percent of military spending in the world was American; now it’s 41 percent. So we have fewer enemies and we’re spending more money.”

Lets have no illusions about what Frank’s commission is likely to produce. The military remains Washington’s biggest sacred cow for a lot of reasons — corporate profits, the need for politicians to look tough — so any real cuts proposed by Frank are likely to go nowhere, at least in the short term.

In the long run, though, Frank’s commission has the potential to alter the conversation, which could lead to defense cuts down the road. And that’s key. We spend way too much on the military, way too much to project power around the globe. The money spent on the military is money that could be, should be spent on something more productive for society, on expanding access to health care and rebuilding our bridges and modernizing our power grid and fixing our schools and hiring teachers.

So bravo Barney. Keep up the good work.

The key to defense budget cutting, Frank said, is to attack the notion that the U.S. military needs to be everywhere in the world militarily. “If you let them insist that there is a need for worldwide military engagement, we will be at a disadvantage when we fight the specific fights” to cut programs, he said.

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