An opinion piece written by Rep. Daynette "Dee" Morikawa, 16th House District (Niihau, Lehua, Koloa, Waimea). Rep. Morikawa is also an active member of the Women Legislator’s Lobby – a program of Women’s Action for New Directions(WAND).
On
Labor Day we honor the contributions of working men and women. The
holiday weekend marks the end of summer, the beginning of football
season, and gives Hawaii families
a reason to go to the beach, barbecue, camp, and throw parties.
However, as some of us take this vacation day to celebrate the hard work
and ingenuity of America’s workforce, we must still recognize that
others face significant struggles to recover from the
Great Recession. Many have already lost their jobs, or are facing the
daily fear of layoffs, decreased hours and cut wages. We’ve seen efforts
to reduce healthcare and retirement benefits for workers on the grounds
that there’s no money for such things. And
yet there always seems to be money for the Pentagon and its
contractors.
We
could be closer to economic recovery if Congress approved a more
responsible Pentagon budget. Each year Congress approves discretionary
spending with 56 percent taken up
by the Pentagon’s budget, including funds for wars and nuclear weapons.
And this budget has increased every year since 1998. With automatic
“sequestration” budget cuts fast approaching, some members of Congress
want to ensure that Pentagon spending continues
to go unchecked while domestic programs are slashed even further. Here
in Hawaii, we’ve had to make devastating cuts to school bus services,
public health services, nonprofit funding and other programs. Making
further cuts will slow our economy and increase
unemployment.
National
security is a critical role of the federal government. We should wisely
invest what we need to stay safe and strong. However, the Pentagon
cannot even pass an audit
to show that it is using our tax dollars efficiently. There are smart,
sensible ways that we can reshape our spending to cut waste and meet 21st
century security needs. For example, we could reduce our enormous and
expensive Cold War-era nuclear
weapons arsenal. Weapons systems that the Pentagon says it does not
want or need should no longer be funded. When we cut waste and excessive
Pentagon bloat we can better assure that we meet the needs of our
troops and veterans who have protected us.
Overspending
on the Pentagon means that critical state and local programs get
squeezed. Economists note that state and local budget cuts are working
against lowering our unemployment
rate. In previous recessions, rising public sector employment helped to
ease the pain. Instead, now we continue to lay off public workers.
Unemployed workers and their families have less and spend less,
resulting in expanded job loss in communities already
hard-hit.
Meanwhile,
military contractors are making record profits. Lockheed Martin’s CEO
is one of the highest paid executives in the country, yet he and other
CEOs are threatening
to send layoff notices to thousands of workers days before the November
elections unless they get their way – exemption from any cuts to
government spending. They are throwing a political tantrum,
irresponsibly putting their workers in the middle of it, and
spreading fear and mistrust far and wide.
We
should take note that Pentagon spending creates fewer jobs than
spending in other key areas, such as education, health care, or clean
energy investments. By continuing to
spend unnecessarily on the Pentagon, we deny local communities the
opportunity to create even more jobs in other sectors.
If
sequestration cuts occur, thousands of middle class jobs that provide
services to all Americans could be lost. Cuts to special education state
grants and Head Start could
result in the loss of more than 46,000 jobs nationwide. If the Pentagon
is exempt from these automatic reductions, domestic program cuts will
be even more draconian.
Our
national security is strengthened by investing in our nation’s best
asset – its people. Congress needs to focus on creating jobs that will
help us build a strong, vibrant,
durable economy by funding sectors like infrastructure, education and
new technology. Cutting essential services and jobs to allow continued
bloated Pentagon budgets and record profits for defense contractors is
not the road to recovery.
As
a legislator, I believe we need a balanced approach to the budget that
provides critical services for our community, such as elderly care,
illegal drug use prevention, awareness
and enforcement, education and healthy lifestyles, in a cost-effective
way. This Labor Day, let’s ask our members of Congress to invest in
America’s workers and our economy, building a pathway for this and
future generations!
