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Every year the federal government looks at ways to determine how we spend funds. Under COVID, we have had to look at the economy, then think about what a better nation for the future looks like and how we can get there together. The Biden presidency moved with speed to rebuild infrastructure and to move ahead with the Build Back Better program. Still, Democratic faithful have a hard time really explaining exactly how morality comes into our shared budget. The way we budget—the way we spend money—tells us what we value as a society. When we take that viewpoint, it is pretty easy to see what makes us connect and unite with each other, and why we act in the hopes of a better future.

The Poor People’s Campaign, Kairos, Repairers of the Breach, and The Institute for Policy Studies took a step back and looked at how the United States spends money, and why Republicans being outraged at the Build Back Better plan shows how out of touch they are with morality. 

Republicans are outraged at $170 billion in yearly expenses for Build Back Better. Yet, when it comes to the $778 billion dollars per year we spend on national defense, there isn’t a lot of pushback. In fact, if you were to look at one of the top contractors—Lockheed Martin—you rarely hear about the outrage over $75 billion yearly. We’ll spend $17.5 billion on Trump’s “Space Force.”

There are some serious problems with how we put together a budget if it is designed to reflect our values.

Republicans provided for $25 billion dollars in funds to the Pentagon they didn’t even ask for!

I love my family members who serve in the military, and it is important we work to make sure that our military is well-protected and that we honor their service with fair pay. But, uh, Space Force?

We have to have a real talk about what a moral nation looks like, and how we can put our budget in line with our values. What values are the most important to us? How do we build a budget that provides us the future that emphasizes helping all humanity instead of helping a few?

Can we do everything? Is there an opportunity to do enough to achieve our goals as a nation, to provide opportunities of excellence for our future? I certainly believe there will be enough of our budget to do Build Back Better, to integrate opportunity, and to provide a budget that speaks to opportunity and our future.

I remember as the Hubble telescope was launched, the question was asked as to why the government invests in science like Hubble, and how it benefit us. Well, for me it was easy. I could discuss how our better understanding of the universe inspired future generations.

We have opportunities for inspiration right now. To connect with each other, right now. We could inspire generations, build out opportunities for our young people, and leave a legacy for decades to come. All of that is possible.

It is sad I can get a better debate about expenditures on nuclear proliferation in a high school or college debate round than I hear in most political discussions.

Or I guess we could just spend billions of dollars on nuclear weapons, enough to completely obliterate the world many times over. 

There are moral issues that can bond us, and issues that we can act on together for our future. 

We could also just all watch Dr. Strangelove together. I don’t know.

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