The immensity of the US Military Budget

[Bouncer]

The US defense budget is massive - Business Insider

[Scrumhalf]

What a waste! Hard to wrap one's head around this until you see the graphs in the article!

When I was visiting Costa Rica, I learned that it had NO army. Just imagine that! Not saying we can get by without an army, but if we were to cut our budget by even say 15 or 20%, just imagine how much money there would be for everything else. And do we really need to spend 3 times as much as China and 7 times as much as Russia?

[jack tors]

I need better break down of cost to determine its a waste.

I'm sure there is waste but I would rather spend more on defense and not live through another 911.

I think we can cut some of the other social programs 1st. Maybe figure out a way to make health care affordable. That would be great.

[AvidFisherman]

Costa Rica does not have an Army because it knows that if anyone invades Costa Rica the U.S. military will intervene. That being said, we are pumping so much money into our military to garner world influence to further the capitalistic goals of the power elite.

[Bouncer]

My plan if president would be to cut the defense budget by a couple billion and put that money into education and infrastructure. A new high speed rail from coast to coast and eventually city to city, fixing and improving public transports, bridges etc.. This would give jobs to 10's of thousands and get the nation up to date.

A defense budget is important but the stark contrast between education and military is shocking. We need a nation of smart people that understand the world and how to better it. Not a nation of dipshits with more missiles then brain cells.

[Bouncer]

I'm sure there is waste but I would rather spend more on defense and not live through another 911.

9/11 had very little to do with a defense budget. If you look back through history every powerful nation used fear to implement more control and power. Your argument is basically government propaganda paying off.

What I'm saying is not to be confused with the argument that no defense budget is needed. That would be foolish for a nation as big as ours. I'm simply saying it's a very dangerous direction if you believe the more military power and control our government has the safer we are. The greatest empires of the past all fell and they were all military power houses.

Freedom, education, tolerance, and enlightenment is the recipe for a lasting and healthy nation. Free flowing ideas and the means to turn those ideas into reality. History has shown this over and over again. Most people simply don't bother to look..

[AvidFisherman]

The money to finance campaigns come from the 1% and their superpacts. You can't change a system when those who want to distort it to reach their goals control it.

You might say, well people will realize this is happening and change it... it's been happening for centuries and nothing has changed. Marx thought there would eventually be a class consciousness and the proletariat would rise up against the bourgeoisie. This is never going to happen. Just look at the $15 fast food worker pay increase debate. A lot of lower paid individuals I know say, hey, why do they make as much as I do when my job requires more skill. They should be saying, hey, why have my wages not gone up in the past decade but the executives have quadrupled their bonuses?

[AvidFisherman]

Not only that but by having McDonalds, WalMart ect. pay their workers minimum wage or slightly above minimum wage and having only a few full-time workers, these lower paid, part-time workers are often on public assistance. We are in a system of corporate welfare, through pubic assistance we are subsidizing these companies and their executive bonuses.

[Scrumhalf]

I like this Bouncer fella and how he thinks!

[Scrumhalf]

I'm sure there is waste but I would rather spend more on defense and not live through another 911.

No, no, NO!!!

I'm going to go on a bit of a rant here, nothing personal, Jack! :)

The notion that 9/11 was a product of "the terrorists hating our way of life" or whatever is a myth propagated by politicians. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

9/11 is a direct product of 50 years of the US government interference in the Middle East, and most importantly, the complete unwillingness of the US government to play the role of an honest broker for solving the Palestine problem. Our support for corrupt regimes (he may be a sonofabitch but he's our sonafabitch) has rendered 2 generations of people in the Middle East who despise the US, and with good reason. The US government, either directly (through invasion) or indirectly, through the funding of dictators and providing arms and money to Israel, is respnonsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people in the region. This is an indisputable fact.

Now, I am not justifying terrorism or the killing of innocent people on 9/11 or otherwise, but you've got to realize the rage, the feeling of impotence, that could prompt people to engage in such acts.

Of course, politicians would like to have people believe that MORE defense spending is what we need. But you cannot build walls high enough to keep out people who have grievances against us, and dropping bombs on the middle east (the popular "let's pound the country into sand" strategy) will only result in thousands of civilian casualties and further enrage people and turn them against us. The people who benefit from more arms, more defense budget, more wars, are the arms manufacturers, the contractors, the Halliburtons, and the politicians like Dick Cheney who get to line their pockets with contributiosn from these companies.

I have lived in Asia and visit there regularly. Trust me, common people there LOVE America. They love the culture, the love the music, the people. They would love to come to America. However, THEY HATE WHAT THE US DOES IN THEIR BACKYARD!!! The politicians here of course insist that "they hate America." No they don't.. they hate what we do in their countries.

Here is a solution that I GUARANTEE will reduce or eliminate the threat of terrorism here in the US and allow us to dramatically reduce our defense budget and do the things that we need to do to stay relevant in the 22nd century:

1. Cut aid to Israel and get them to respect the international agreements that EVERYONE else supports and be an honest broker in getting the Palestinians a viable state.

2. Get out of the Middle East. Stop supporting corrupt regimes like Saudi Arabia that engage in human rights violations to their own citizens.

3. Through the UN, be an honest participant in getting the warring sides (Shia, Sunni, ISIS, etc.) to the negotiating table so that they can figure out their differences.

4. Ratchet down the rhetoric and let the Middle East solve their problems. Provide support through the UN as a mediator but nothing more.

I can guarantee that if we did these things, nobody is going to want to blow things up here. There won't be suicide bombers or whatever the hell we are afraid of and we can get our defense and homeland security budgets back to sanity.

[AvidFisherman]

#3 is easier said than done, I don't see it happening.

[Scrumhalf]

#3 is easier said than done, I don't see it happening.

Well, the current strategy is for sure not going to work and the only thing it will accomplish is to create enemies for us.

[jack tors]

9/11 had very little to do with a defense budget. If you look back through history every powerful nation used fear to implement more control and power. Your argument is basically government propaganda paying off.

What I'm saying is not to be confused with the argument that no defense budget is needed. That would be foolish for a nation as big as ours. I'm simply saying it's a very dangerous direction if you believe the more military power and control our government has the safer we are. The greatest empires of the past all fell and they were all military power houses.

Freedom, education, tolerance, and enlightenment is the recipe for a lasting and healthy nation. Free flowing ideas and the means to turn those ideas into reality. History has shown this over and over again. Most people simply don't bother to look..

I knew somebody was going to say that. Again I would like to see it broken down further. I think the military creates a LOT of jobs as well. I agree with you our infrastructure is dated and a joke.

[blm]

I don't need to see graphs and charts. I see the waste first hand. I have 2 friends that do nearly identical jobs. One private sector the other as a consultant for the government. Private sector pays a fraction of what the government does. My buddy bills the govt anywhere from $150-300 an HOUR as well as huge bonuses for finishing projects on time.

My other buddy makes less than $100k a year.

It was explained to me that they justify big budget this way and if they don't spend it, they won't continue to get it.

The govt consultant is also one of the cheapest consultants they contract out for their various projects.

He laughs all the way to the bank at their wasteful spending.

[Bouncer]

Basically the opposite of efficiency. The government needs a new position. Call it an organizer. This teams job is to take the whole mess and organize it in the best way possible. I'm sure there are already multiple agencies that do this sort of thing but I mean something with real push behind it, a team really dedicated to taking the turds their given and making them as odorless as possible.