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THE CHOICE: A Look At Pres. Obama And Mitt Romney's Plans For National Defense

185 views · Published 29 October 2012 · 7:31 · Indexed 15 October 2026

Channel: Roland S. Martin · 2012 · News & Politics

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It's time now for our special election report, "The Choice," where we look at the plans of President Obama and Mitt Romney on issues important to all Americans, but with focus on their effect on African-Americans.  This week, national defense.

There's a lot of money spent on defense -- $670 billion this year, which amounts to about 18 percent of all federal spending.  African-Americans are overrepresented in the active-duty military.  According to a Pew Study from 2011, 31 percent of women in the military are Black, and 16 percent of men in the military are African-American.  In addition, Defense Department minority contracting programs account for billions of dollars in minority contracts.  So, the size of the military and the amount of defense spending are not only national security issues for African-Americans.  They're also economic security issues.

To see what electing Pres. Obama or Mitt Romney would mean for national defense, Roland sat down with retired U. S. Army Major General John Hawkins, III, and Chief Policy Officer for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America Tom Tarantino.

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