Unlike Mitt Romney, Most Americans Want to Cut US Military Spending

On some issues, there is a serious disconnect between candidates for public office and the public they are hoping to represent.

Take the case of Mitt Romney and military spending.

For some time now, the Republican presidential candidate has been an avid proponent of a vast U.S. military buildup. Last October, in a speech at the Citadel, he promised that he would never "wave the white flag of surrender" but, rather, devote himself to creating "an American Century." This would be secured, he explained, by a hefty increase in U.S. armaments. In terms of U.S. warships alone, he promised to raise annual production by 67 percent. Attacking President Barack Obama for what he claimed was military weakness, Romney called for increasing the U.S. military budget, in fiscal 2013, by 17 percent. Indeed, he has proposed raising U.S. military spending by as much as $2 trillion over the next decade.

This military obsession comes at a curious time. After all, the U.S. military budget -- currently standing at $648.6 billion -- has risen dramatically over the last thirteen years and is the largest in U.S. history. Currently, U.S. military spending constitutes nearly as much money as the military spending of all other countries combined. Furthermore, in the context of severe budget cutting by Congress, popular domestic social programs are being sacrificed to support the U.S. military budget -- so much so that it currently consumes more than half of the U.S. government's discretionary spending.

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