Tax dollars should go elsewhere

When it comes to the upcoming sequestration proceedings, all the media chooses to report on is Leon Panetta and his doomsday predictions that the U.S. will become a second-rate country if all the military cuts go into affect [“Panetta says U.S. at risk of being second-rate power,” seattletimes.com, Feb. 7].

What about all the social programs that will be negatively impacted, most of which have already been cut to the bone? The vast majority of people in this country want our tax dollars to be spent on keeping up our parks, rebuilding the infrastructure and investing in education and alternative energy. These are the things that make our country great — not a bloated military budget and endless wars and war profiteering.

I hope in the upcoming budget proceedings that Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell will preserve our social programs and cut our military spending down to a reasonable level. Putting our money to peaceful pursuits is the right and compassionate thing to do, both for our own country, and for the rest of the world.

--Gayle Janzen, Seattle