Neither I nor any conservative I know holds that conservative views represent the “moral right,” as claimed in Ed Frank’s Nov. 7 letter, “Be prepared to justify a moral right.” Conservatives and liberals with strong moral foundations reach out to help those who are “left behind.” They often disagree about how much government is responsible for helping and how much should be done by private sources. I prefer to contribute more to churches and pay less in taxes for government programs.
We should understand that our military is but one tool elected civilian leaders use to provide security. Our military does not “tell the rest of the world what to do.” It does what our elected officials ask it to do. How much should providing security cost? It is not the one-third of our government’s expenditures some say. The defense budget accounts for 19 percent of the fiscal year 2012 federal expenditures contrasted with nearly 62 percent projected for Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, unemployment, food stamps and welfare programs.
We should consider the moral rightness or wrongness of some of these expenditures if they create dependency on government rather than lifting people out of poverty and hunger enabling them to better care for themselves.
Robert McFarlin
Camas
