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Romney's other 47% problem
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| Contributor | Craverguy |
| Last Edited | Craverguy Oct 30, 2012 03:30pm |
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| Category | Commentary |
| Author | Harvey Sapolsky and Benjamin Friedman |
| Media | TV News - CNN |
| News Date | Tuesday, October 30, 2012 09:05:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | (CNN) -- A fixture of the presidential race has been Mitt Romney's 47% problem: Those Americans who don't pay federal income tax that Romney has described as freeloaders. Of course, Romney has retracted his remark. But if he still wants to attack those who freeload off of U.S. taxpayers, there is a better target: Our wealthy overseas allies.
Forty-seven percent is also roughly the U.S. share of global military spending. Our annual $700 billion-plus military budget exceeds the next 10 biggest military budgets combined. Much of that money buys forces needed to defend allies against threats they could afford to meet themselves. Alliances that once served the U.S. national interest have become a subsidy to rich allies.
In a recent foreign policy speech, Romney noted that only three of the 28 NATO allies meet their commitment to spend 2% of their GDP on defense. He promises to fix that by asking our allies to honor their commitment to security spending.
But the Europeans have grown adept at keeping a straight face while ignoring such lectures.
If Romney wants them to do more, he should suggest giving them less -- a logic he appreciates in domestic contexts. The same would apply to the Japanese, South Koreans and various others we defend. Some allies, especially in Asia, might increase military spending. Others, noting less danger and bulging debts, may not.
Washington is not the best judge of others' needs. But with fewer commitments, we can maintain fewer forces and lower future military costs, which means more savings for U.S. taxpayers. |
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