21 When we re-engineer the budget, I want all the money on the table. Certainly, much of that money has already been spent. Jack Ma at Davos this year pointed out that the United States has spent $14 tril- lion on wars during the last 30 years. However, many reports indicate that despite all the mon- ey spent, the US armed services have not been properly maintained. They are significantly stretched around the world as they attempt to build out a unipolar empire. In part, this is the result of becoming overextended in wars in the Middle East since the Afghanistan and Iraq invasions. Contributing to this problem is the fact that the military expense and debt is reflected in US financial statements. The government contracts, natural resources, and businesses acquired through war or the threat of war are often booked on private and corporate finan- cial statements, including offshore entities. US taxpayers fund the expense and the debt and lose their lives fighting the wars – but they do not own the resulting assets. Finally, the budget fails to provide detail on the government contracting budget, arguably the most out-of-control portion of the national security state. The US government has become increasingly dependent on private companies and banks for multiple operations, including those associated with missing money. This includes bank accounts, securities servicing, and payment and information systems. These “material weaknesses” should be addressed im- mediately and financially sensitive operations should be returned to the control of the civil service. In summary, there are serious structural imbalances and fundamental failures in the federal budget and finances. These issues must be addressed if we are going to balance the US budget: • Redefining the role of the US and the US military and re-engineering the budget accordingly; • Bringing transparency to the “black budget;” • Identifying where the missing $11.5 trillion went and asserting jurisdiction over the related assets; • Returning both information sovereignty and financial sovereignty to the core functions of the US government. The President has been essentially silent on these issues since taking office. Presumably, the new Secretary of Defense is working on plans that would transform the current budget blueprint into something addressing a rede- fined role for the US military in the world. So far, we have experienced the opposite: the President has reversed his position on NATO without firm commitments from all of the members to fund their share. The President’s pro-Israeli stance, events in Syria in early April, and dismissal of Steve Bannon from the Na- tional Security Council meetings are ominous signs that we may be returning to the Neocon agenda. The result of progressive denial regarding this DOD budget “800-pound gorilla” is a propos- al for a significant increase in defense appro- priations in the Budget Blueprint. Given a variety of budgetary pressures, simply ignoring the problems and appropriating more money will not work. President Trump and General Mattis need to prepare a Defense bud- get based on a practical vision for our future rather than “kick the can.” 2. Stop the Con-Con There is an effort underway to have the states call for a Constitutional Convention. The specifics were covered in detail in an excellent interview on the Solari Report with consti- tutional scholar and attorney Edwin Vieira: American Suicide: Proposals for Constitu- tional Amendments & Convention. Any such process can be hijacked. If approved, the chances are 99.9% that such a convention will be hijacked. At which point you can kiss the US Constitution goodbye.