Opinions of Peter Belmont
Speaking Truth to Power
| Pay as you go wars |
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by Peter A. Belmont / 2011-10-13
America has fallen into the habit of easily going to war for no particular reason, not only without cause, and not only without a plan for ending the war, but also without any realistic intention of paying for the war. A Modest suggestion—Pay as you go for wars I suggest a Congressional about-face in regard to war, debt, and taxes. Congress should, henceforth, pay for all wars—currently on-going and future—on a pay-as-you-go basis, that is, from current taxes, actually collected by surtaxes on the richest Americans. That would give a reason to oppose new wars to those of the very rich who are neither part of the Military-Industrial-Complex, nor yet neocon enthusiasts for war, destruction, conquest, glory, etc. As matters stand, the very rich and the corporations (who must be deemed to be the chief beneficiaries of US foreign policy, including war policy) have no reason to oppose the pro-war MIC. Thus, as matters stand, the oligarchic balancing mechanism by which the USA determines its national interest has the MIC “voting” heavily in favor of war and no-one opposing war. No, indeed not. With significant taxation a dead letter, the very rich and the corporations think they can have their cake (the benefits of American government, foreign policy, military) and eat it too (i.e., not have to pay for it, now or ever). No-one acts as if they believe that the bills will ever come due to be paid. But if wars had to be paid out of current revenue, and if that revenue came chiefly from taxes on those beneficiaries (the very rich and the corporations), then all the rich other than the MIC would tell their senators to vote against the wars, and good sense would prevail, if only for dollar-and-cents reasons. All this borrowing, and the absence of a military draft, has made war seem “free”. And of course, what with all the killing and laying waste that war involves (and which Americans don’t much think about), wars are really quite expensive. Even for the USA. Be a good thing if someone with actual political power in the USA had a good reason to oppose new wars. Taxation might provide that reason. |
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