When it comes to the federal budget, Maine’s congressional delegation should understand the need to raise revenue to pay for the programs Mainers depend upon through closing loopholes and making sure the wealthy and large corporations pay their fair share of taxes.

Ending wasteful Pentagon spending is one of the most reasonable ways to generate needed revenue, and it has the added benefits of making the country more secure and protecting American jobs.

Recent stories in the Washington Post and the New York Times have highlighted the capricious spending of military contractors on the F-35, an example of a military program with a bloated budget and highly-paid CEO on the receiving end of taxpayer dollars.

In 2001, Congress committed the U.S. to development of the F-35, a cutting edge, air-to-air and air-to-ground combat aircraft. It would replace most of the air combat inventories of the U.S. military. Its cost would be $226.5 billion.

According to the same articles, the F-35 has yet to fly a single combat mission and the cost for building the planes alone has risen to $397.5 billion. Once the planes actually are tested and built, later this decade, it will cost an additional $1.1 trillion for operations and support — bringing the overall price tag to an incomprehensible $1.5 trillion.

Originally conceived more than two decades ago, the F-35 was designed to fight the wars of the last century and does nothing to confront the threats of tomorrow — cyber attacks and climate change.

Kyle Smith, Auburn