Want a New Green Economy? Cut Military Spending!

Even though Secretary Gates requested a 4% increase in the military budget, the Blue Dogs and the conservatives have wailed loudly that these supposed "cuts" will cost Americans jobs.
The truth is, though, that military spending is one of the least effective ways to create jobs here at home. Research sponsored by the Women's Action for New Directions Education Fund ( www.WANDEducationFund.org ) makes the point clearly:
*Investing $1 billion in the military creates about 8,500 jobs.
*Investing $1 billion in mass transit creates almost two-and-a-half times as many jobs, about 19,800 jobs. And helps us defeat global warming, arguably the biggest current threat to our real security.
WAND Education Fund's research also shows that weatherizing homes or spending more on health care creates one-and-a-half times as many jobs as military spending (and more than just cutting taxes, the other favorite but ineffective conservative mantra).
And spending $1 billion on education creates about 17,700 jobs, more than twice as many as military spending.
So if you want to put America back to work, cut the bloated military budget and spend the billions you save on mass transit, schools, health care, and weatherizing homes.