US Economy Warns of Shutdown, Not of Enduring War's Costs
While Newsweek and other outlets sound the alarm on a potential US government shutdown crippling the American economy, they conveniently sideline the decades-long drain of militarism. In 2023 alone, the US allocated nearly $886 billion to its military, a figure that dwarfs the estimated $20 billion cost of a month-long shutdown. Where's the 'economy warning' for the 1990s and 2000s, when Rep.
Steny Hoyer (D-MD), who received over $100,000 from defense contractors in 2022-2023 according to OpenSecrets, consistently voted for soaring defense budgets (e.g., HR 2670 in 2023) while simultaneously warning about fiscal responsibility? Funny how the economic alarm bells only ring when the money stays stateside. We're told a few weeks of paused federal services will devastate communities, yet
the perpetual conflict machine, funded by your tax dollars and championed by politicians accepting significant PAC money from defense interests, is barely a footnote. Perhaps the real 'economic warning' should be about a political class that prioritizes global military interventions and corporate defense profits over a stable domestic economy. Or is that too 'political' for mainstream journalism?