Military is issue, not infrastructure — Jeff Virchow

The cost of the recently enacted Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, listed at $1 trillion, is being discussed a lot. It’s worth noting that most of that discussion fails to mention that that cost will be spread over a period of 10 years, which comes to around $100 billion per year.

In contrast, the 2022 Defense Department budget is $778 billion dollars (for one year), which adds up to $7.78 trillion over 10 years (not counting annual increases). I wonder why those legislators who are so incensed over the cost of the infrastructure plan don’t have more to say about the cost of the Defense Department budget.

The U.S. Defense Department budget is higher than the combined total defense spending of the next 11 highest spending countries. Meanwhile, our physical infrastructure and the moral strength of our nation continue to erode.

If that trend continues, we may eventually have nothing left to defend.

Jeff Virchow, Prairie du Sac