Military cuts are sign of defeatism

Ed Dornlas, Las Vegas

Sunday, Jan. 8, 2012 | 2:01 a.m.

Although I personally favor a smaller military, I find the president’s recent announcement of substantial cuts in defense curiously disturbing. In an election year, I can’t believe that the president is cutting federal employees and spending because it saves money.

The president frequently laments that he should not be held accountable for the lousy economy and that he inherited the problems from prior administrations, and he’s right. The problems started nearly a hundred years ago under Woodrow Wilson’s administration with the creation of the Federal Reserve. Successive presidents eliminated the gold standard for citizens, and in 1971 Richard Nixon ended foreign redemption of our gold.

Over the years, the country’s debt has snowballed — $15 trillion in total debt; the current budget deficit is more than $1 trillion and we think, “Well, big deal.”

In order to have debt, you have to have a lender. We have progressed from borrowing from ourselves, as Japan does, to borrowing from foreigners, including China, to borrowing from ourselves. Borrowing from ourselves involves devaluating our money by inflating the supply. Our money becomes less desirable and foreigners will eventually decide to invest in commodities such as gold or oil and not our dollars. When that happens, the only option our government has to keep spending is to print the dollars it needs, further devaluating our money.

Perhaps the end of foreign desire for our debt is near and cutting our military is like the sign sent to a challenger by the dog that rolls on its back: “Don’t hurt me! I give up!”