Wedge Issues: National Defense

The Democratic party, and liberals in general, are often portrayed as being weak on defense; the spirit of the label is often true, as the Party and the left-wing idealogues tend to find that social causes are more their forté, both in terms of expertise and ability.

But, of course, the undecided moderate conservative doesn't care as much about social issues as she does about national defense - very often the conservative base can be well-riled up by having a guy say things like "Forces armed with what? Spitballs?" More to the point, they're often willfully ignorant when such a speech is 98% untrue.

The party failed to respond to Zell Miller's speech in any way, shape or form in August, instead choosing to trumpet John Kerry's own Purple Hearts and say "He's big on defense! He got shrapnel in his buttock!" What the party failed to do in any way, shape, or form, was to come out and accuse Zell Miller of lying (which he did) or to back up their own members and candidates' records on defense spending (which they didn't).

It's time for the party to give up. The military-industrial complex is here to stay, and if I may say so, it's a good thing. While our armies and navies may not be the most agile weapon-bearing force in the world, they remain the best-trained soldiers this planet has ever seen, and our military remains the most powerful in the world...greater even than China's 100-million-man army. We have the best equipment, the best training, and generally, the best soldiers on Earth. While I hate to admit it, those are all results of Republican efforts at continually increasing defense spending.

Nevermind that the increase in the defense budget is hard on other programs - the money can be found pretty easily if we're willing to look for it. At the very least, the Democratic party must stop caterwauling about defense spending, and must instead attempt to keep it steady, at the rate of inflation. While I don't agree with the war in Iraq at all, we are there, and spending money on the military is the only way to keep our men and women who ARE there safe.

Now, that said, there are ways to keep costs down while at the same time appearing strong on defense.

• Keep contracts open
 - Very often, the Pentagon will award a contract to a company in a no-bid, noncompetitive contract program because "They're the only company that can do it." Well, if that's the case, then there's no harm in soliciting bids, is there? If they're the only ones who can do it, then they'll win the contract. ALL defense contracting should be competitively awarded.


• Contract Accountability
 - Overcharging the Pentagon, and really the entire government in general, must be an enforced crime. Companies that engage in this act should, if convicted in a court of law, be heavily fined, banned from doing business in the United States, and/or have their assets broken up. This makes us hard on crime, as well as defense-friendly, and attempting to thwart such a bill would make anyone who stands in the way look like they care more about campaign donations than government accountability.


• Increased funds for body armor
 - This should be a no-brainer.


• Visit the troops
 - When was the last time that, say, Nancy Pelosi visited the troops? When was the last time Tom Daschle spent time in Bosnia, or Kuwait, or Germany? Why is it always Republicans who spend time carousing with our boys and girls in uniform? Trust me, there are plenty of Democrats in the armed forces, and they'd be plenty happy to see politicians of their stripe.

Being "strong on defense" has too long been a Republican tagline. It's time for the Democratic Party to get their act in gear. There's no reason not to oppose overboard Pentagon spending, but at the same time, "Support our Troops" is a rallying cry for the right - it should be a rallying cry for everyone.