Devildawg15's blog: "How Government Spending Hurts National Security"

America is one of the strongest, wealthiest and freest nations on
earth; she is largely in control of her own fate. Therefore, any real
threat against America will likely come from within. Today, one of the
main internal threats is crushing government debt.

Few things can march a great power down the road of decline faster
than irresponsible economic policies. Current estimates
of our national debt exceed $7 trillion -- $22,000 per person -- a
figure likely to increase by $9 trillion over the next decade.

Unlike in times past when the nation was saddled with exorbitant
deficits, today's imbalance is long-term and will heavily burden
future generations. And this financial shortfall will wreak havoc on
our national security. That's because the more money we commit to
ever-expanding big-government programs, the less we have for defense.


The U.S. military might be unable to protect a sea lane vital to trade
and military supply lines. We might be unable to suppress an enemy
regime that launches a terrorist attack against us. And absent the
great American economic engine, we might lack the resources to stay on
the cutting edge of technology, leaving our soldiers vulnerable to
being matched or even trumped on the battlefield by better-equipped
foes.

Maintaining our superpower status requires reining in our
out-of-control spending on entitlement programs, the main driver of
our long-term debts. As Heritage experts have long argued, this
entitlement spending is among the greatest domestic policy challenge
our nation faces. That's why we have included reforming programs like
Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid as key goals of our 10-year
Leadership for America Campaign.

America currently faces many external threats. But unless we address
these serious spending problems from within, we will not be adequately
prepared to face those from without.