Discretionary spending is a grift

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) has reportedly suggested that Social Security and Medicare be eliminated as federal entitlement programs, instead becoming discretionary programs approved annually by Congress. It is outside the scope of this article to point out that Johnson remains one of Trump’s most avid supporters and Big Lie tellers.  

Imagine Johnson’s proposal for an instant. In the discretionary spending model, whatever the problem is will have to wait until Congress gets around to it with some money. Unfortunately, get-around-to-it is one of the rarest gems on Capitol Hill. The current snarky, obstructionist senators and representatives nestled there can rarely form a coalition that agrees on anything.

Defense spending is a really good example of what unbridled, roll-me-over-in-the-clover discretionary spending really is. A more enlightened public would be appalled by the ever-present pork used to grease the way from the manufacturers to the solons in Congress. Whenever some embarrassing issue is raised, Boeing, General Dynamics or a myriad other defense contractors will hurry to assure everyone we are safe thanks to their infernal machines.

There isn’t enough space in a single essay to demonstrate the waste and duplicity of the military-industrial complex because of discretionary spending. That wasted taxpayer money could have been used to actually help Americans. The same thing will happen to America’s social welfare network if it is reduced from an entitlement to an expense. Children already go hungry for the price of a Hellfire missile.

As long as trillion-dollar defense programs stagger on, pols in need of shade will deem them a success. The United States Air Force’s almost $2 trillion dollar F-35 jet fighter is still in development despite billions already spent to fix it. The sleek, multi-role plane took to the air 15 years ago. Lockheed’s original $398 billion proposal for building the next generation F-35 is now projected to cost $1.7 trillion, which includes $1.3 trillion in estimated operations over 66 years. It should be okay by then. The entire government would shatter if all the entitlement programs were suddenly dependent on acrimonious politicians dealing in American lives like they are soulless Hellfire missiles.

Johnson lamented on MSNBC that there is no oversight for the huge, monolithic federal enterprises that provide saving grace for both the elderly and disadvantaged. He targeted both Social Security and Medicare, which automatically grant benefits to citizens who meet a simple qualification, namely that they paid into the system their entire working lives. In essence, recipients trusted their government to do the right thing. Senator Ron and his cronies seemingly can’t comprehend the right thing is leaving Social Security and Medicare alone unless it is to build on it.

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that the 67-year-old Johnson is a professional bean counter. Before he meddled in politics, he was an accountant. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010, defeating Democratic incumbent Russ Feingold. He is trained to put numbers in boxes. People however, are neither beans nor boxes.  

In his biography, Ron says he came to Washington in 2011 because, he claims, the federal government is bankrupting America. From the book: “He (Ron) believes huge deficits, slow economic activity, high unemployment and woefully inadequate job creation are severe symptoms of the problem — but not the root cause. The ever expanding size, scope and cost of government is.”

Picking on Senator Ron isn’t being totally fair. He’s merely a symbol of the glad-handing Republican sleight-of-tongue artists who went along with every tax program disgraced former President Donald J. Trump rammed down the throat of America. The imbalance created by the fat cats’ ability to avoid taxes creates tax shortfalls that don’t need to happen. Caring for Americans is being imperiled by Johnson and his Republican cronies’ underhanded bag-dragging that is not conducive to caring for American lives.

Ron says he is proud that Wisconsin has “a robust defense industry.” He supported the Navy’s futuristic littoral combat ship (LCS) until the Navy ditched the concept in favor of ships that float. Produced in Wisconsin, the Star Wars-looking LCS was designed to operate in shallow waters close to shore. The Navy estimated it would cost more than $60 billion to operate and support the 35 LCS ships it planned to build. The Navy already had 17 of the futuristic boat anchors when it decided to get rid of them before one sank of its own accord. Decommissioning the ships saved the Navy approximately $391 million, according to the service’s proposed FY23 budget. What a deal!

Johnson also recognized the important role Wisconsin plays in keeping American armed forces safe and capable on land. In August 2015, he effusively congratulated Oshkosh Defense on winning the contract to produce the ubiquitous Humvee’s replacement, called the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle. The vehicle manufacturer won the JLTV production contract in 2015, so far producing more than 15,000 of the clunky multipurpose vehicles.

The JLTV’s average procurement unit cost is hard to pin down. Reportedly, the number is somewhere between $370,000 and $399,000 each. Hopefully, it comes with a nicer ride. The slab-sided JLTV is still teething seven years into production. The Army intends to release another $6.5 billion open contract to buy 15,468 multipurpose vehicles over five years, with another five years’ worth of options that could extend production through 2032. Johnson’s well-being is heavily dependent on making sure all is well at Oshkosh, by gosh.

The country’s public safety net is a trifle compared to defense spending. The defense budget request for fiscal year 2022 rose to $722 billion, up from $705 billion the year before. The Biden administration sent a budget request amounting to $737 billion for the Department of Defense in the fiscal year 2023. The last three years of defense spending cost U.S. taxpayers $3 trillion and change, not counting so-called black ops that cost more undisclosed billions.

Meanwhile, our self-funded Social Security safety net is currently budgeted at $1.2 trillion annually, all paid for by American workers.

Perhaps the answer to Johnson’s self-induced dilemma is to employ the model that serves our social services to get a grip on military spending. Fewer guns and more butter is needed.

It seems Johnson is right about one thing: “The ever expanding size, scope and cost of government is . . . (the problem).”