http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/12/AR2011021204532.html

This Monday, President Obama is expected to release his budget proposal for fiscal year 2012. It’s no secret that our national debt has been exploding for the past decade due to unfunded wars in the Middle East, irresponsible tax cuts, and emergency stimulus spending in the wake of the economic downturn. Soon we need to come to terms with the reality that soaring debt threatens our national security, and it seems as though the President senses this urgency. His budget proposal will reportedly “trim record federal deficits by $1.1 trillion over the next decade” (WaPo).

Regrettably, it includes harsh cuts of important domestic programs. For example, a heating subsidy for low-income households would be slashed in half under Obama’s proposed budget. The Low Income Home Energy Heating Assistance Program costs $5.1 billion, while our annual defense spending tops $690 billion. As we emerge from another forbiddingly harsh winter, it’s reprehensible that instead of offsetting the funding for this important program through cuts to our mammoth, wasteful military budget, we’d leave the poorest Americans without needed aid to stay warm.

Our military spending surpasses China’s (which has the world’s second-largest defense budget) by some $600 billion per year! Wake up Washington, the Cold War ended 20 years ago. We could cut our military spending in half and still spend more than the next five countries combined. With that money, America could invest in infrastructure and education, and gradually begin reducing the debt. I would point out that President Clinton left this country with a budget surplus and a backward-ticking debt clock, and ended his presidency with 66% approval (Gallup). Responsible budgeting is popular and within our grasp, without leaving Americans out in the cold. But this isn’t just good policy — it’s a moral imperative.