The Shameful State of the Union

Here's one thing everyone should be able to agree upon from George Bush's State of the Union address: "We have unfinished business before us."

Apart from that, it's a little difficult to credit much of what he said.

"So long as we continue to trust the people, our nation will prosper, our liberty will be secure, and the state of our Union will remain strong," he concluded.

But the state of our Union is anything but strong. Consider these snapshots:

1. The United States is spending more than $700 billion a year on the military.

The 2008 appropriations bills include $506.9 billion for the Department of Defense and the nuclear weapons activities of the Department of Energy, plus an additional $189.4 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. [1]

Other military funding is located in the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies.

Congress has approved nearly $700 billion to fight the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. This is the appropriated amount. It doesn't include costs to society -- loss of life, injuries, etc. The amount spent on war-fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq now exceeds the inflation-adjusted amount spent on the Vietnam War. [2]

The United States accounts for roughly half of the world's military expenditures. [3]

Depending on how you count, more than half of all discretionary federal spending is now directed to the military. [4]

2. Wealth is concentrating in the United States at a startling rate. More