Barney Frank: S&P Downgrade Due To 'Disproportionate' Military Spending -- The Hill
America's "disproportionate" role as "military policeman of the world" was a major factor that led Standard & Poor's to downgrade U.S. debt over the weekend, ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee Barney Frank (D-Mass.) said Monday morning.
"There is one area in American politics where what we are doing is disproportionate to the rest of the world," said Frank in an interview on CBS’s "The Early Show." "We spend far more of our national economy as a percentage than just about any other nation except a beleaguered nation like Israel that has to do it in self-defense.”
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Update #1: Dems Rep. Frank says US credit downgraded because of excessive military engagement in world -- Washington Post/AP
Update #2: Barney Frank: Start deficit reduction with big defense cuts -- CBS News
My Comment: Congressman Barney Frank is not alone .... he has this group supporting his argument. What is my take .... in the past the U.S. military budget represented a greater chunk of the economy and government spending than what it does today ....but the credit status was unchanged. But it is also true that in today's world the US defense budget is huge, and while it is not the cause of the problem it is definitely a contributing factor.