Defund the Pentagon? Views From Left and Right
Andrew Lautz of the National Taxpayers Union and Jonathan Bydlak of the R Street Institute provide a conservative view on the issue, arguing that the recent unprecedented increase in federal outlays in response to coronavirus crisis should inspire a total review of other spending in the federal budget – beginning with “the single largest part of the federal discretionary budget, an entire category of spending that has long been off the table: the Pentagon.”
Lautz and Bydlak say that while many conservatives give the Defense Department a free pass when it comes to bloated budgets and unrestrained spending, at “a time of enormous deficits and record debt, this can no longer be acceptable.” They join with libertarians on both the left and the right in calling for reduced defense spending and more comprehensive audits of allocated funds. Although short on details, they say they stand by the idea that “in a post-coronavirus world, all expenditures can and must be on the table.”
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