Dear Editor:

As the Congressional August recess moves forward, Americans are waiting for some profound legislative decisions to be made. With another round of the “sequester” looming, which doesn’t differentiate cutting from a good program or a bad one, how about we begin to look at sensible cutting of excess national government spending as a major priority?

The political elephant in the room, the granddaddy of cash cows and pork, is defense spending; and none of our representatives wish to be seen as weak on defense. But the reality is that out of control spending on military adventures and out-of-date programs have cost the nation greatly.

The real pork that needs to be cut (and savings to be had) isn’t found in taking Head Start away from 57,000 children of impoverished families nationwide (as was announced August 19 due to sequester cuts). Rather, choosing to cut wasteful Pentagon spending is a choice we need to make to protect programs we must have. Take, for instance, the development of the F-35, a weapon system which may eventually cost as much as $1.5 trillion. It is a system our experts say we no longer need.

Keeping Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, discretionary programs such as Head Start, nutrition aid, job training, education and cancer screening, just to name a few, should be priority in any discussion of the budget. They are certainly more vital to our country than funding spurious pork projects shrouded in the name of defense.

Alex Jackimovicz
Boothbay