We know that the American people are focused right now on the economy.  So are we.  As we like to repeat, everyone has a stake in prosperity, and everyone should be concerned about job creation and growth. 

But the world situation won’t go away just because we would all rather deal with something else.  Right now, America faces a greater spectrum of dangers than it did during the cold war, and every category of risk is demonstrably growing.  Unfortunately, at the same time as our government is interfering in the economy where it shouldn’t, it is failing to provide for our defense as it should.  Yet there is a direct relationship between times of peace and times of prosperity. 

How then could Congress spend $800 billion on a stimulus bill without investing any in the defense industrial base?  Why, in a time of war, is the nondefense discretionary budget increasing by 11 percent per year while the military modernization budget is being cut?

America has lived through, and enjoyed the benefits of, an era of general peace and prosperity where freedom has flourished. The foundation of that era was the decisive predominance of American power, beginning with military strength. The sacrifice necessary to sustain that power is modest, and the risks of failing to do so are enormous. What America needs from its leaders is leadership — a rare commodity in Washington, but not too much to ask for when the stakes are so high.  If you’re interested in national defense and military spending, please read these other articles.

Sen. Talent, Vice Chair

In December 2008, the Commission released its report, World at Risk, to address the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction that pose the greatest peril: nuclear and biological weapons. Full text of the report is available here.

A clear and present danger: QDR must recognize need for two-war construct

Best Defense: The Left has allowed its ideology to distort its perception of global risk
By Jim Talent
In an editorial on Sunday, May 10, the New York Times took the Obama administration to task for not cutting defense spending more deeply. Now, one wonders whether the Times is serious, or whether it is sending some kind of intramural signal intelligible only within the political Left.

Obama’s 2010 Defense Budget: Top Five Worst Choices for National Security
By Jim Talent and Mackenzie Eaglen
President Obama has submitted a defense budget request to Congress for fiscal year 2010 that, if implemented, will dramatically reshape America’s military