Well, it looks like March 1 is the new January 1. At the start of next month, automatic budget cuts are scheduled to go into effect, meaning that, for the next few weeks, Congress and the White House will be looking for ways to manage the federal budget crisis. Here’s one idea from Col. Richard Klass, Council for a Livable World Board member and retired Air Force colonel. In an op-ed in the Huffington Post, Col. Klass argues that much of what we spend on nuclear weapons is unnecessary and could be put to better use. “Consider this,” he writes:
…over the next decade nuclear weapons and related programs could cost $640 billion. This colossal price tag is impossible to justify. Since the end of the Cold War, nuclear weapons have played a far smaller role in ensuring American security — yet the nuclear weapons budget remains stubbornly high. For a modern and cost-effective defense budget, we must reshape and right-size this area of defense spending.
Read the rest of Col. Klass’ piece here.
