The wages of war - now and then

Later this year, the United States will mark the 75th anniversary of its entry into World War II. The way we waged that war and financed it stand in contrast to how we have conducted the war on terrorists for the past 14 years.

When war erupted in Europe in 1939, most Americans had no desire to join the conflict. Still suffering from a decade-long depression and questioning the nation’s involvement in World War I, they endorsed President Franklin Roosevelt’s call for American neutrality.

Of course, Roosevelt knew that it would be difficult to keep the United States out of the war. Adolph Hitler’s powerful legions seemed unstoppable as they easily rolled over one European country after another — and appeared ready to invade Great Britain.

The rise of an increasingly militaristic Japan threatened to spread its imperial power throughout the Pacific Rim. In response to these growing threats as 1940 ended, Roosevelt proclaimed in a radio address that “we must become the arsenal of democracy.”

Bucking public opinion and ignoring potential political damage when he successfully ran for an unprecedented third term, Roosevelt had already been preparing the United States to fight. The president secured a huge increase in spending from Congress to enlarge the armed services and better arm and equip them. He instituted the first peacetime draft. He allowed American factories to supply Great Britain and its allies with war-related materials.

***

Americans continued to hope that their nation would remain at peace. Yet within a year, the United States was thrust into the global conflict when the Japanese launched a devastating attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. The next day, President Roosevelt delivered his famous “Day of Infamy” speech before Congress, and received a declaration of war as prescribed by Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution.

The Japanese attack and a subsequent declaration of war by Germany on the U.S. brought the American people together as no other event could have. They responded with anger and determination. Over the next four years, some 15 million men and women served in all branches of the armed forces. Most American families had someone in uniform, many in harm’s way. More than 400,000 sons and daughters paid the ultimate sacrifice.

People adjusted to a wartime footing on the home front by learning to live with less. Rationing of food, gasoline, clothing, metal products, and a host of other items became a way of life. Citizens volunteered in a variety of ways, from helping with scrap metal drives to promoting war bond sales.

Throughout the nation, industry shifted into high gear to support the war effort. The output of American manufacturing astonished almost everyone, especially considering how quickly it was able to reach such high levels of production.

The German war machine had taken eight years to build before it launched its attacks to overrun Europe. In 1940, U.S. arms production was negligible. Yet within two years, American factories churned out as much war material as Germany, Italy, and Japan put together. By 1944, U.S. production levels were more than twice as great.

***

Many pundits did not believe that a democracy was could successfully wage a major war, especially on a worldwide scale. The utter defeat of Germany, Italy, and Japan, all ruled by strongly centralized governments led by dictators or a small coterie of strongmen, laid that doubt to rest.

How the U.S. financed this massive effort is instructive. To reach the same percentage of gross domestic product that they did in World War II, today’s federal budget expenditures would have to almost double — to about $7.2 trillion.

The country financed the huge budget expansion in World War II by raising taxes and getting citizens to invest in the war. The so-called Victory Tax of 1942 sharply raised income tax rates; but the chief source of funding came through the issuance of war bonds. Americans purchased some $186 billion worth of the instruments that paid for nearly three-quarters of federal spending from 1941-45.

How does this compare to the current war on terrorism? Today it has come almost entirely through borrowing — about $4 trillion so far. As one pundit put it: “We’re putting it on a credit card with no real plan or schedule to pay it off.” The only other time the U.S. financed a war solely by borrowing was during the American Revolution when France bankrolled the infant nation. During the Civil War, both federal and Confederate governments raised taxes to finance the conflict.

***

The United States has not formally declared war since 1941. Our involvement in Korea, Vietnam, and the Middle East has been conducted by congressional authorizations to use force as prescribed by the president.

In a recent speech at a Virginia War Memorial Foundation event, Sen. Tim Kaine expressed grave concern about this practice of ignoring Article 1 of the Constitution. He blamed both the legislative and executive branches of government for their failure to follow this clearly mandated constitutional provision.

Kaine contends that by fighting a war circumventing Article 1, the president is allowed to conduct matters, for better or worse, with limited legislative oversight. At the same time, members of Congress are absolved from having to make a vote that could come back to haunt them in their next re-election. Political expediency outweighs constitutional responsibility.

The public, not to mention their elected representatives, seem oblivious to both the legitimacy and the cost of a war that has been going on for 14 years. An all-volunteer force that comes from a small minority of American families is fighting it. The proportion of veterans serving in Congress is now less than 20 percent, compared to almost 80 percent, for example, in the late 1970s. An even lower percentage has children or grandchildren in the military.

Taxes have not been raised to wage the current war, while many members of Congress advocate for even lower taxes. Ironically, not a single candidate in the current presidential election has addressed this problem. Oh, each says he or she knows how to win the war — from carpet-bombing to “putting more troops on the ground.”

Without question, the likes of ISIS must be hunted down and destroyed with the U.S. in the lead. That said, let’s do it the way the so-called Greatest Generation did, by adhering to Article 1 of the Constitution and by no longer charging it to the nation’s credit card.