‘We are not a welfare state. We are a military-industrial complex’

In a Nov. 9 letter to the editor of The Kansas City Star, PeaceWorks KC Chair Dave Pack objects to a column that brands the US as a welfare state. Written by Allison Schrager, published Oct. 27, the column had what Pack calls a “ridiculous headline,” namely, “Can America afford to reopen the government?”

Pack says Schrager suggests that social spending causes our deficit spending. “This is pure rubbish,” says Pack. He calls reduced tax revenue from wealthy Americans “one significant deficit producer.” The One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed this summer, says Pack, “gives continued tax breaks to wealthy Americans, while giving death sentences to Americans in need of health care and food.” Further, he says, “Republican administrations have been building enormous deficits” over the years because of their tax policies.

Pack calls defense spending a second significant deficit-producer. “The Trump administration proposes to increase defense spending more than $100 billion to around $1 trillion,” says Pack, explaining that true defense spending has been well above $1 trillion for a long time, noting that spending on veterans and military retirement pay is budgeted outside the Department of Defense and totals about $500 billion yearly.

Pack concludes, “We are not a welfare state. We are a military-industrial complex.” See Pack’s full letter to the editor at https://eedition.kansascity.com/shortcode/LMCKCM/edition/9de66ad2-e538-dd46-171d-3597baf3bc5a?page=ab519b4a-711c-20a5-03e6-54ff3bed89a3& … scroll down to the letter headlined ‘WELFARE STATE’?