Helena Independent Record: Refocusing priorities on American needs at home

Seems like every time I turn on the TV, I see another pundit or politician calling for greater American military intervention in response to ISIS, or heading to war with Iran, or cleaning up after some other conflict around the world.

While these threats are real and must be taken seriously, America can no longer afford to go it alone.

We spend billions overseas every year and put thousands of young American men and women in harm’s way. And we pay for it by taking out new loans — mostly from foreign countries like China and Japan.

In the meantime, our allies are free to invest significantly more in public education, in health care, in infrastructure, in research and development, and in lower taxes.

We should be making those investments. But the budgets passed this week by the majority in Congress don’t.