Cut Defense?

"The single biggest threat to our national security is our debt."

-Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff-

In fact, the U.S. spends about as much on its military as the rest of the world combined.

While the U.S.'s military spending has jumped from $1,500 per capita in 1998 to $2,700 in 2008, its NATO allies have been spending $500 per person over the same span. As long as the U.S. is overspending on its defense, it lets its allies skimp on theirs and instead pour the savings into infrastructure, education and health care. So even as U.S. taxpayers fret about their health care costs, their tax dollars are paying for a military that is subsidizing the health care of their European allies.

Thompson, Mark. "How To Save A Trillion Dollars." Time 25 April 2011: 24-29. Print.