Every year, Democrats in Congress use an implicit threat to keep fiscal extremists in the Republican Party from gutting the safety net: cuts to the military budget. And every year, they back off that threat. The resolution, every time, is a growing military budget.
This year, congressional leadership in the House and Senate have negotiated a budget with domestic spending — everything from public education and public health, to housing and environmental protections — frozen at almost last year’s level. Accounting for inflation, that amounts to a cut in domestic spending. In exchange for this pittance, the Democratic Party accepts a military spending increase that puts the country on track for the highest military budget since World War II.
In practice, a budget that freezes domestic spending while increasing military spending risks the lives of both people in the United States and those who fall victim to U.S. militarism abroad.