The Militaryindustrial Complex and the Bankruptcy of the Nation

"In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the militaryindustrial complex...
We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together."

-from President Dwight D. Eisenhower's farewell speech

As corporate influence in American politics has grown, the political power of the militaryindustrial complex has grown. Policy and spending decisions have increasingly benefited the the defense industry to the detriment of American citizens. Every year we spend far more on our military than is needed or practical. Industry lobbyists also help push the nation into wars that generate additional profits for their employers.

According to this table, the US spends almost as much on defense and warmaking as the rest of the world combined ($522 billion vs. $561 billion). There is no defensible reason for military spending on this level. The US military has proven incapable of effectively occupying and controlling Iraq. It has done far more political damage over the past 20 years than good as militant groups around the world have sprung up on anti-American, anti-Imperialist sentiment alone. Nevertheless spending continues to increase because defense lobbyists have great pull in Congress and with the White House.

This site gives a good perspective on how large the military budget has become. To quote for perspective:

"The U.S. military budget request by the Bush Administration for Fiscal Year 2007 is $462.7 billion. (This includes the Defense Department budget, funding for the Department of Energy (which includes nuclear weapons) and “other” which the source does not define. It does not include other items such as money for the Afghan and Iraq wars—$50 billion for Fiscal Year 2007 and an extra $70 billion for FY 2006, on top of the $50 billion approved by Congress.)
• For Fiscal Year 2006 it was $441.6 billion.
• For Fiscal Year 2005 it was $420.7 billion.
• For Fiscal Year 2004 it was $399.1 billion.
• For Fiscal Year 2003 it was $396.1 billion.
• For Fiscal Year 2002 it was $343.2 billion.
• For Fiscal Year 2001 it was $305 billion. And Congress had increased that budget request to $310 billion.
• This was up from approximately $288.8 billion, in 2000."

My own points:
Final military costs for 2007 will likely be double the costs for 2000, showing an increase in the influence of industry lobbyists.
Cutting the military budget down to the size of the next largest nation would turn the "official" budget deficit into a surplus, although that ignores money looted from Medicare and Social Security trust funds.
Excessive military spending over the past 50 years has effectivelybankrupted the United States government.
The massive defense industry has become a huge portion of our distorted economy, severely undermining the competitiveness of American industry because of the tax burden.

Looking at the final Monthly Treasury Statement for fiscal 2005, it seems as though military spending is much greater than the above numbers would suggest because additional military spending is hidden in other departments:

Department of Defense = $474.436 Billion
Department of Energy (most of the Energy department's budget is based on helping the defense department develop weapons and clean up after itself):
-Weapons activites = $6.600 Billion
-Nuclear nonproliferation = $1.313 Billion
-Defense site acceleration completion = $6.152 Billion
Department of Veterans Affairs (We're running up large future costs in Iraq right now) = $59.556 Billion
Other Defense Civil Programs = $41.732 Billion (+ $35.354 billion in intrabudgetary transactions)
Executive Office of the President:
-Iraq relief and reconstruction fund = $7.338 Billion
International Security Assistance:
-Foreign military financing program = $5.302 Billion

The total is over $600 Billion, and that's just the items that are obvious in the monthly treasury statement. There are many other more subtle ways the government uses money to support the defense industry. It is simply staggering when you compare it to what the government spends on more important things:

Housing and Urban Development: $42.514 Billion
Education: $62.901 Billion
DoE-Science: $3.336 Billion

The good news is this can't go on forever. The treasury is reaching its breaking point and the Great American Ponzi Scheme has almost run its course. Hopefully the American public will be able to understand why its government has gone bankrupt and restore expenditures to a more reasonable balance when we start the economic rebuilding process.