PENTAGON'S CREDIT CARD BINGE MUST END!

The Pentagon is acknowledging that they are going to have to cut some big ticket items from their budget. The fiscal crisis is beginning to hit home and even the military industrial complex is going to be affected. The nation's debt is bigger than ever, its been growing like a drunken tourist in Las Vegas slapping down their credit card and purchasing anything that moves. May I suggest a few more items for the Pentagon to consider dumping while they are at it? How about the various weapons in space technologies that are now several times over budget? Systems like the SBIRS satellite; Rods from God; the military space plane; the Airborne laser; ground-based laser; the Aegis Theatre Missile Defense system; Space-based radar; Space-base laser development project; the nuclear rocket; and the whole moon-Mars series of missions. If these programs were cut then maybe the government would not have to cut health care and food stamps for the poor.

Yesterday it was announced that General Motors and the United Autoworkers Union had reached agreement to seriously cut health care benefits for the workers. This will start a serious freefall of health care benefits for all American workers. Wouldn't this be a good time to pass national health care - a single-payer program that guarantees coverage for everyone? By cutting out these wasteful Pentagon space projects Congress could go a long way in balancing the budget and offering real health security to the nation. I am more worried about my ability to get health care than being attacked by terrorists. Isn't it terrorism of our own people when social spending gets cut and the bloated military budget exists?