"If we say we need it, the American people can afford it," a high-ranking Pentagon official once told Vice Admiral John Shanahan years ago.

By "it" he meant weapon system after weapon system. Today America can’t afford it. But still the Pentagon wants it all and what Shanahan terms the "Military-Industrial Congressional Complex" happily says yes, under the guise of appearing "strong on defense."

Congress is close to passing another $50 billion for the war in Iraq, on top of the $251 billion previously allocated. This funding isn’t even part of the Pentagon’s $439.3 budget for next year, the highest level since World War II.

Fifteen percent of that budget will go toward obsolete, ineffective or unusable Cold War-era weapons that costs Americans billions of dollars and provides no security in return. Today former Reagan Administration Assistant Secretary of Defense Lawrence Korb, in conjunction with the Congressional Progressive Caucus and Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities, unveiled a blueprint to curb this madness.

The "Common Sense Budget Act" would eliminate $60 billion in waste and fraud from the Pentagon’s budget and redirect the money toward homeland security, deficit reduction, energy independence, children’s health, school modernization, job training, medical research and humanitarian assistance. Polls show that two-thirds of the public want these changes to occur.

The Act, introduced by Rep. Lynn Woolsey with fifteen cosponsors, has virtually no chance of passing this Congress. But hopefully it’ll be the beginning of a badly-needed debate. Business leaders plan to kickstart the discussion by running ads in two disproportionally important states: Iowa and New Hampshire.