Although I am more liberal than David Brooks, I have great respect for him. He writes with intelligence and thoughtfulness. I agree completely that when we are cutting budgets, our primary focus must be on preserving the education and health care of our children. That must take precedence over Medicare, and I speak as a senior who loves Medicare.

David seems to think that greatly reducing our military would be a big mistake. I disagree. If we had not had a large military, we might not have been so eager to invade Afghanistan and Iraq. Would reducing the world’s military power make for a more peaceful world? Possibly. The United States’ military expenditures are more than that of all other nations combined! In 1961, the U.S. and the Soviet Union signed the McCloy/Zorin agreement, and the U.N. General Assembly adopted it on Dec. 20. This is a worldwide disarmament plan that would leave each nation enough military to defend themselves but not enough to make pre-emptive strikes against other nations.

We need to look toward focusing on our children and caring for our seniors! That must be our greatest conviction!