Obama's Defense Cuts Make Inequality Worse

There are many reasons to oppose President Barack Obama’s sweeping defense cuts, announced yesterday by Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel. One of them is an argument beloved by Obama himself: economic inequality.

For generations, the U.S. military has been the first step on the ladder of economic progress for millions of Americans. Not only does it provide jobs, but it also provides young people with skills, college tuition, and–for many, especially minorities–an escape from difficult family situations and communities that have lost hope.

By slashing tens of thousands of military positions, the Obama administration will not only be cutting jobs but also cutting off opportunities for promotion. For a president who purports to care about economic inequality, drastic cuts to the military–as opposed to do-nothing federal departments–is both hypocrisy and disgrace.

Evidently Obama is more concerned about punishing the rich than helping the poor. And so much for Hagel, that purported champion of the enlisted man, who is destroying the hopes of thousands in the rank-and-file.