There are many problems with libertarians, and other extremist right-wing ideologies. People of such philosophies seem to believe that we need to cut important domestic programs, yet increase support for military spending, but not necessarily international spending. Conservatives regularly talk about cutting taxes, and the size of government, then they start working on their pet military project, and do the opposite.

Missile Defense will cost us far more then $50 billion dollars, when it's implemented, it will make enemies. Why hasn't a missile defense been implemented in the past 50 years. Russia has had a limited ABM defense system in place over Moscow since 1965. It doesn't work, and the only thing it will do is make the world a more unstable place.

When the first nuclear ballistic missile starts to fly, the world is on the eve of destruction. Just one nuclear missile is all it will take to put the world on the edge of a nuclear world war. It's very unlikely that we won't use a nuclear weapon against a nation that used one against us. When we start figthing against them, it would be likely that their allies and our allies would start shooting nuclear bombs at each other. The United States has enough nuclear weapontry to destroy the world several times over.

Anti-ballistic systems are dangerous too. How do you destroy a nuclear warhead safely? In theory you send a rocket with a nuclear war head on it, to blow it up in the Stratosphere, where it should be high enough (in theory again) to protect the people on the ground from Nuclear fallout. Also, you have to shoot the nuclear weapon into the air, and even with the best technology a rocket isn't 100% safe for carrying such a dangerous payload.

Military spending destroys the economy. Government workers get payed low salaries compared to those working in the private sector. It distorts supply and demand, by creating artificial demands. It increases taxes to levels that put businesses out of business.

Could cutting military greatly reduce taxes? Democratic Presidential Candidate George McGovern in 1971 announced that with steep military cuts after ending Vietnam, he could give every American $1000 tax refund. With inflation, that number is closer to $3000. He also claimed that these reductions could make possible for lower taxes, every year. Makes George W. Bush's small tax refund look, small. And this tax cut, would be more fair by giving the poor a larger break. The poor need such a tax credit the most.

Cutting the military in 1/2 might sound drastic, and ending the draft. But it could be done, safely. If we eliminated all obsolete technology, and kept only the technology we needed to protect our country, and no more, we would have over a trillion dollars to spend on domestic programs and tax cuts. Russia started doing this in the mid-1960s when it halted the majority of it's military development.

By this point Russia realized that it was in serious economic trouble, and it had plenty of weapons to do significant damage to the USA, and keep it from being a serious threat to their well-being. China does the same thing today. They have a limited military budget, yet they have nuclear weapons that could destroy most of the areas of importance of the USA. We will never attempt to beat up on China.

Why are domestic programs better then military programs? For one, military programs promote a police state, one with out liberty and freedom that we take for granted. Domestic programs improve our lives from a day to day bases. Non-government jobs pay far more then governmet jobs. We aren't blowing up thousands of dollars of cash that way.

For more on this line of thought, you should read Former Senator George McGovern's A Time of War, A Time of Peace written in 1968. While this book is dated, many of the ideas could still be applied today.