The picture below from the National Priorities WWW site shows the "tradeoff" for the $13.3 billion contribution of the taxpayers of the State of Minnesota to the proposed FY 2012 budget for the War Department (euphemistically called the Department of Defense) in one area - renewable electricity - wind power - to be 9.0 million households served.

As there are only a reported 2,332,916 housing units in the State of Minnesota (US Census, 2010), one can easily visualize the impact of an approximate 25% cut in the War Department's budget for one year on the infrastructure of the State of Minnesota - not to mention the other 49 states!

Our sixth graders, however, suggest that an approximate 10% cut in the War Department's budget every year for four years would offset the State of Minnesota's current $5 billion budget deficit.  They continue to note that

totalling $103 billion, and ask this simple question: "Isn't it time to apply common sense to the impact of the War Department's budget on the infrastructure of the 50 States of the Union?"