Rep. Ed Markey on using money earmarked for nuclear weapons to fund a better economy for US citizens, and a safer world for everyone.

Politico l Ed Markey  10 October, 2011

The Cold War arms race is over, but the fight for America’s priorities has just begun. It’s time to end the plutonium plutocracy and deploy this financial weapon against waste. Fewer weapons, more wealth — a real solution for our deficit crisis.

The United States is the financial caretaker for 5,000 nuclear warheads. Some sit entombed in silos, invisible monuments to apocalyptic scenarios never realized. Others roam the sea, where, at any given time, 12 Trident submarines cruise, each armed with 96 nuclear weapons. A single submarine is capable of destroying all of Russia and China’s major cities, even though there is no clear and present reason to do so. The entire U.S. nuclear arsenal could destroy the world five times over.

Meanwhile, millions of America’s senior citizens worry whether proposed Republican changes to Medicare will cost them $2,000 more per year in health care costs. American families wonder if heating assistance, school lunches or job training will win out over billions in oil and gas subsidies in the battle over budget priorities. College students, small businesses and Alzheimer’s patients wonder where their fate will fall when “hard choices” in budget negotiations pit them against large corporations.

And through it all, thousands of nuclear weapons sit and collect dust. And new ones in the pipeline wait to be built.

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