Why National Security Events Matter to Your Wallet and Your Rights

Washington, D.C. is locking down for America 250 celebrations this Fourth of July. Nearly 5,000 National Guard troops. Hundreds of officers from 44 law enforcement agencies. The Secret Service running the show at the highest security designation available. Miles of fencing, airport-style screening, Coast Guard patrols on the water.

This is real. The threat environment is real. Protecting a major public gathering with hundreds of thousands of people is serious work, and it takes serious resources.

But here's what the CBS News coverage doesn't ask: Where do those resources come from, and why can't we mobilize them with the same urgency for the everyday security that actually affects most Americans?

What This Tells Us About Priorities

The federal government can move fast when it matters. It can coordinate across agencies, fund thousands of personnel, and execute with precision. That's a good thing. National events deserve protection.

But consider what happens the rest of the year. Workers without paid leave can't access healthcare. Disabled Americans on SSI live on $2,000 in assets, a limit unchanged since 1989, when a gallon of milk cost $2.50. Communities cracked by disinvestment get surveillance, not support. Climate disasters displace families while we argue about whether clean energy creates jobs (it does, and we should lead on that).

The question isn't whether we should protect a national celebration. It's whether we have the same resolve to protect the people living through the rest of the year.

The Real Security Question

True national security isn't just about preventing one bad day. It's about building a country where people's basic needs are met so they can contribute. Where a disability doesn't mean poverty. Where workers earn enough to stay healthy. Where no one gets priced out of their own town.

The Common Good Party sees this differently. We believe national security and common security are the same thing. You protect the Fourth of July, yes. But you also protect the single mother choosing between insulin and rent. You protect the disabled veteran whose asset limit forces them into poverty. You protect the young family that can't afford to live where they work.

When government can mobilize this much firepower for one event, the question becomes: What's stopping us from doing it for people?