Why Profit Can't Trump Security

I like to remind folks that we spend as much on our military as all
the rest of the world's countries combined. But to be precise, our
exact percentage of spending, according to the Center for Arms Control
and Non-Proliferation, is only 48 percent of the world's global
expenditure on the military. I'd like to point out that that's an awful
lot of money.

According to www.usgovernmentspending.com,
between now and 2013 we will spend about $3.6 trillion on everything
from guns to grub so we can kill or be killed. And all of that spending
-- if you listen to the recent health care debates -- is the bad kind.

All that $3.6 trillion is basically the government spending our
money without our consent. Unless you think Congress represents you, in
which case you must be ignoring the SurveyUSA poll that puts public
support for a health care public option at 77 percent. Which would make
passing that part of the bill a no-brainer if we had a representative
republic, but we don't.

That enormous expenditure for the
military includes a public option. Soldiers voluntarily join a
government-sponsored program for their own well-being or for somebody
else's well-being. Sometimes they choose that public option because
it's financially advantageous and other times join just because it
seems to be the right thing to do.

Imagine opting for the government option over private enterprise,
such as getting a job at the mall, just because you think it's morally
correct. Shocking!

Let's face it: The military is a socialist enterprise. It's run by
the government and every bit of it is financed with taxpayer dollars.
If you try to withhold financial support for the military you'd better
have a good lawyer, because there are penalties for not supporting the
government and they include jail time. Go to IRS.gov if you dare and
check out what happens to you if you don't pay what Congress decides
you owe.

And more than just a fiscal government program, the military tells
the members of the public option what to do, even in their spare time.
They tell soldiers who they can and can't kill, how much weight they
must gain or lose and even what sort of romantic relationship a soldier
may openly pursue.

Where are the redbaiters when it comes to the thought police in our
socialist military infrastructure? Where's the crusading right wing on
these issues?

Even Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly know that if the military were
a private enterprise it would have to turn a profit and the consumer
choice would be required. If people didn't like the product, they
wouldn't have to buy it.

What would happen if 50 million Americans decided that they didn't
need the military and refused to buy "military coverage"? Well, the
rest of the decent Americans would pick up the tab with higher premiums
and use their taxes to pay for unnecessary emergency war visits.

What if the president ordered the military into a hurricane-ravaged
region but the for-profit military didn't think they could make any
money filling sand bags? Well then, the for-profit military could
decide to deny the Defense Department's claim and not provide the
service.

Our founders knew that the public defense was too important to leave
to the private sector. That's why it's against the law to desert your
post. Imagine making it against the law to deny health care coverage?
The thought makes me quiver with joy.

That's why I'm sick of this health care debate. Our government
clearly believes forcing U.S. citizens into compliance with a
government agency is acceptable. Because of these public-option
soldiers, our inner city youth and rural farmland kids are told to be
proud of enlisting in the government option when the private sector
fails them.

Can't find a job in the private sector? Can't afford tuition at a
local college? Join the military and Uncle Sam will employ you. Why
isn't the right wing fighting this unfair competition in the
marketplace?