- We need to stop increasing the military budget. There are less expense ways to fight wars like drones. The military needs to find more cost-efficient ways to protect us. Increasing the military budget by $100 Billion is absurd.
- President Dwight D. Eisenhower famously addressed the cost of military spending in his “Chance for Peace” speech on April 16, 1953, shortly after taking office. In this speech, he warned about the trade-offs between defense spending and domestic needs. Here’s the key quote:
- “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.
- This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children.
- The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this:
— a modern brick school in more than 30 cities.
— It is two electric power plants, each serving a town of 60,000 population.
— It is two fine, fully equipped hospitals.
— It is some fifty miles of concrete highway.
- We pay for a single fighter plane with a half million bushels of wheat.
We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than 8,000 people.”*
- Eisenhower, a former five-star general, was not anti-military — but he was deeply concerned about the rise of the military-industrial complex, a term he later popularized in his 1961 farewell address. This quote illustrates his belief that excessive defense spending diverts resources from vital domestic priorities like education, healthcare, and infrastructure.
The Central Forward Party
The Center Forward Party is a centrist, bipartisan organization focused on advancing practical policy solutions through collaboration and open dialogue. Founded in 2010, it brings together policymakers, industry leaders, and experts to address national challenges, promote informed decision-making, and encourage constructive conversations that bridge political divides while supporting balanced, forward-thinking solutions for communities.
