Finally a sensible policy discussion

Ron Paul and Barney Frank are engaging in a type of bi-partisan effort I couldn't be more in favor of. A reduction in federal spending to the tune of 1 Trillion dollars!

What's the catch?

It's a proposal to reduce military spending.

Many of you are already shaking your heads because military spending is off the table. To suggest cutting it is dismissed as irresponsible, unpatriotic, reckless and whatever other descriptions are thrown at the idea without even a thoughtful argument to accompany it. But here is a reality that can't really be argued: Our country is broke.

A good military spending reduction policy will not be to remove important weapons systems, but instead remove troops from hundreds of countries around the world. Yeah, yeah...I know some of you are foreign policy zombies and your knee just jerked up and hit the bottom of the desk where you're sitting as you screamed out the words "YOU'RE AN ISOLATIONIST!" Maybe it would help to give you a list of things to explore while discovering America's new role in this phase of economic disaster.

1. True Isolationism is borrowing so much foreign money that you can only afford to trade with countries that voluntarily devalue their own money. Importing from everywhere else becomes too expensive. We trade with fewer nations today than ever.

2. True isolationism is influencing trade on certain items by pressuring foreign nations with your navy and subsidizing dying industries at home. This was done prior to World War I and was called 'mercantilism". It failed then, it will fail again.

3. We station troops and our navy in Japan while they hold more US debt than any other nation. In short, we borrow from Japan to protect Japan.

4. National Guard units fighting overseas cannot assist in natural disasters or oil spills at home.

5. Being the policeman of the world is expensive in a country where true unemployment figures are hanging around 20%.

We need to come to our senses and realize that a 10 year program to reduce military spending by 1 Trillion Dollars is long overdue and needs to begin now.