OPINION

Ventura

Recently, Rep. Julia Brownley voted to pass the Budget Act of 2019. This act increased spending for the Department of Defense, which will spend more than 50% of the discretionary funds.

The United States now spends more than the next 10 countries combined on “defense.” This budget will greatly increase the national debt, which will have to be repaid sometime. Meanwhile, servicing that debt continues to consume a significant part of the budget.

Do we really want to continue down this road? Are we not smart enough to stay ahead of potential aggressors without spending such an atrocious amount of money? Does increasing the national debt, serve our best interests? Do we really want to be continually at war and have our military forces stationed around the world?

These are questions that need to be asked and debated. I would urge Star readers who are concerned about our national interests to put these questions to Brownley.