The US maintains the most expansive and expensive military on the planet. More than half of the annual budget goes towards “defense.” But in the ongoing debates about the appropriate austerity measures to take, cuts to military spending have been insufficiently prioritized. On this week’s edition of The Breakdown, D.C. Editor Chris Hayes and Institute for Policy Studies Research Fellow Miriam Pemberton discuss just how much the US could afford to cut Pentagon spending while maintaining its status as the dominant military force in the world.
Resources
Miriam Pemberton on the misleading nature of military spending “cuts”:
Center for American Progress article on reducing military spending:
Robert Dreyfuss discussing the “civil war” in the GOP over demilitarization:
Barney Frank on cutting NATO spending: “It Serves No Strategic Purpose”
The Independent’s Robert Fisk discusses the costs of war in the Middle East:
Subscribe to The Breakdown on iTunes to listen to fresh takes on the confusing concepts that make politics, economics and government tick. A new episode every week!
