LETTER: Look to defense spending for budget savings

In response to your Dec. 2 editorial about California “rolling in money”: You correctly note that the nation is $37 trillion in debt. Also, that Democrats believe a major reason for this is that the taxman doesn’t confiscate enough money from hard-working Americans. But let’s look a one of our governments’ major expenses, the U.S. military.

Currently, we are spending $2 billion a day on defense. These military contractors take our hard-earned money and give to Republican candidates and committees. In 2024, nearly two-thirds of the defense industry’s contributions went to Republicans. This has been going on since Ronald Reagan.

The Republican Party realized that, the more money we give to military contractors, the more money military contractors give to their campaigns. This has been a vicious cycle for more than 50 years, talking about special interest. The GOP gives this money in the guise of defense of our nation, when they are destroying our budget.

Two-thirds of all weapons produced are destroyed after they expire. This is called disposal and demilitarization, a process that never stops, another vicious cycle. Two billion dollars a day on defense during peacetime is ridiculous. But this vicious cycle was caused by the Republican Party and military contractors. The sad part? We can spend $1 billion a day and still be just as safe.

It’s time for the press to expose this for what it is: Feeding special interests at the expense of America’s well-being.