A Modest Proposal
According to the Center for American Progress the 2015 U.S. Defense budget rings in at $521 Billion.
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/security/report/2014/04/24/88516/a-users-guide-to-the-fiscal-year-2015-defense-budget/
According to the Society of Civil Engineers $3.6 Trillion is needed to repair the US infrastructure between now and the year 2020
http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/
Because the Military Industrial Complex (MIC) has successfully purchased all political discourse, it is impossible to merely shut down our overseas wars of adventure and use the savings to fix our roads... That is unless we hire our military contractors to do that work. We can continue to allow them all the same levels of graft and corruption and we will still be way ahead with a presumably better infrastructure, less death and destruction in foreign lands, and a better standing in the world at large.
Here is a list of the top 10 government contractors for fiscal year 2013:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_100_Contractors_of_the_U.S._federal_government
2 The Boeing Company 21 Billion
3 Raytheon Company 14 Billion
4 General Dynamics Corporation 13 Billion
5 Northrop Grumman Corporation 10 Billion
6 SAIC Inc. 6 Billion
7 Huntington Ingalls Industries 6 Billion
8 L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. 6 Billion
9 United Technologies Corporation 6 Billion
10 BAE Systems PLC 5 Billion
total: 131 Billion
Even if we were to use only the resources of these 10, that is about 25% of the annual military budget. That is no small chunk of change and would put a big dent in all the potholes and bridges we need repaired.
You're happy, I'm happy, the MIC is happy, the world is happy.
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