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Old 03-04-2018, 03:22 AM
 
272 posts, read 215,943 times
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Hypothetically, say the following were to happen:

Our defense budget was MASSIVELY reduced. We were to close every foreign base we have and recall everyone back. No aircraft carriers or big guns, just a few billions purely focused on coastal defense.

We recall every spy or intelligence operative we have and shut down the CIA and any other agency involved in spying and espionage of any kind.

We didn't in any way shape or form get involved in, much less interfere with other nations.

We stopped giving any aide to any other country.

The only thing we focused our money on was making sure every U.S citizen had the best health care possible.
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Old 03-04-2018, 05:17 AM
 
Location: Phoenix
3,212 posts, read 2,220,524 times
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It would be good for the USA and bad for the world if we did this.
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Old 03-04-2018, 11:48 AM
 
Location: Aurora Denveralis
8,712 posts, read 6,665,997 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by American Expat View Post
It would be good for the USA and bad for the world if we did this.
Only good for the US in the very short run.

However, like all extreme theoreticals, there is a vast range of practical middle alternatives.
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Old 03-04-2018, 12:14 PM
 
Location: The Triad
34,091 posts, read 82,464,944 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by YuMart View Post
We were to close every foreign base we have and recall everyone back.
No aircraft carriers or big guns, just a few billions purely focused on coastal defense.
We recall every spy or intelligence operative we have...
We stopped giving any aide to any other country.
The issue isn't the totality of these expenses. It's the degree and the details.
Clearly we need all these things and for all manner of mostly solid reasons.

But yes, we absolutely could and should be spending far less
and what we do spend could be spent far more effectively or at least efficiently.

Quote:
The only thing we focused our money on was making sure every U.S citizen
had the best health care possible.
Maybe even enough less to be able to cover these costs.

From the butter side of the ledger we could and should cut a lot of expenses too.
Between them we might even be able to reduce spending enough that the taxes needed
to be paid didn't hurt to pay and we would have more/better benefits generally.
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Old 03-04-2018, 02:19 PM
 
8,753 posts, read 6,674,180 times
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I'm seeing a trump defense and military budget proposal of $886 billion. Of that, $597b is base defense, $89b is the ISIS fight, $83b is veterans, $28b is State Department, $46b is Homeland Security, FBI and cybersecurity is under $9b, and nuclear security in the DOE is $15b. https://www.thebalance.com/u-s-milit...growth-3306320

My first comment is wow, cybersecurity needs way more. Obviously each organization's budget also includes cybersecurity elements, but this ought to be a huge focus. Vetarans, nuclear security(!!), State, and other chunks are obviously important too.

But we could do great things with a couple hundred billion less on the traditional military aspects. We're built to dominate large chunks of the world to protect entire regions (NATO, much of Asia, Middle East, etc.) and could pull way back on that.

Do that, and obviously some areas would take a hit, including my region which has a large base presence and also produces weapons systems.

But the country could simultaneously support a ton of great things. Let's say we spend $200b less per year on the military. Maybe half of that could be split among research, healthcare, transit, and other good things, and half could go to reducing the massive federal budget deficit so we're not screwing future generations as well as our own.

I suspect that would leave us with a more powerful military than the next few combined, including by far the most capability to project power around the world in addition to being nearly immune to invasion as we always have been.
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Old 03-04-2018, 02:24 PM
 
Location: Aurora Denveralis
8,712 posts, read 6,665,997 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mhays25 View Post
My first comment is wow, cybersecurity needs way more.
Maybe. It certainly needs more... power, both more juice to operate and a more aggressive mandate. I'm not sure that translates to a lot more money, if any, though.

Cybersecurity needs only three things: connectivity, which is somewhere around cost-free for the government. Computers, which don't need to be all that expensive, just top-of-the-heap in speed and processing. And people - the real expense in all ways. As much as the hardware augments human effort here and enables it, cyber attacks and data theft will be solved by wetware.

But $9B doesn't seem all that stingy, unless a real crying shortage of adequate brains can be demonstrated.
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Old 03-04-2018, 08:22 PM
 
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Our state-level electoral system is being hacked, possibly on a very large scale. That's just one aspect of how horribly we're doing.
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Old 03-04-2018, 08:37 PM
 
Location: Aurora Denveralis
8,712 posts, read 6,665,997 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mhays25 View Post
Our state-level electoral system is being hacked, possibly on a very large scale.
Cite, assuming you understand the difference between hacking social media portals and hacking actual election systems?
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Old 03-06-2018, 12:13 AM
 
8,753 posts, read 6,674,180 times
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Reports from our own intelligence agencies claim hacking into our election systems. Maybe they're not reporting it on fox news. They are everywhere else.
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Old 03-06-2018, 09:55 AM
 
Location: Aurora Denveralis
8,712 posts, read 6,665,997 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mhays25 View Post
Reports from our own intelligence agencies claim hacking into our election systems. Maybe they're not reporting it on fox news. They are everywhere else.
Again, cite beyond forum arm-waving?
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