Dear Editor,
While Vermont communities were watching for signs the federal government would help them weather the current public health issues, 130 federal legislators had their sights set on something else. These members of Congress had the audacity to jointly petition the House Armed Services Committee, just four days after the White House declared a state of emergency, asking to once again use taxpayer dollars to purchase 98 more F-35 nuclear bomber military jets, which will cost a minimum of $78 million up to possibly $100 million each.
In the 21st Century the federal government has chosen to invest massive amounts of money into preparing for and waging endless phoney wars for endless military/industrial corporation profits while neglecting public health, education, and other domestic priorities.
In the regular budget cycle for fiscal year 2020 the Pentagon got an insane $738 billion for their budget. Compare that to Health And Human Services department which got $94 billion, while the Center For Disease Control and Prevention received $8 billion in program funding. These misguided budget priorities come at a huge cost and we are now seeing the effects firsthand when government misallocates money into war.
It is criminal that so many of our elected officials would continue to aggressively support the corrupt military/industrial machine especially when larger investment in the healthcare sector would create twice the number of jobs as the same amount of investment in the defense industry.
Climate change, inadequate infrastructure and education, environmental pollution, lack of universal healthcare; these are the real threats to global well-being and peace.
Ralph Corbo,
Wallingford
