The Bloated Military: New at Reason

Donald Trump promises massive military spending increases, but he used to say military cuts didn’t go far enough.

John Stossel writes:

Donald Trump once wanted to cut military spending.

Before running for president, he said Congress’ automatic “sequestration” cuts didn’t go far enough, that they were “a very small percentage of the cuts that should be made.”

Then he ran for office and said he would “make our military so big, so powerful, so strong that nobody—absolutely nobody—is going to mess with us.” He promised to provide 50,000 more soldiers, 74 ships and 87 more fighter jets.

This week, he followed through. He proposed increasing military spending by $54 billion per year.

Why did he change his mind?

Even libertarianish Republicans, like Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.), call for increased spending at election time. It’s assumed voters like hearing that.

But maybe they don’t.

When Americans were asked, “If one additional tax dollar were raised in the U.S., where should that dollar go?” just 12 percent said the military, according to a new poll by the Charles Koch Institute and the Center for the National Interest.

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