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oh ok... Perhaps I should have just said ...Yeah typical liberal isolationist mentality.
The Founders were not interventionists.
"Of all the enemies to public liberty, war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded, because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes; and armies, and debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few. In war, too, the discretionary power of the Executive is extended; its influence in dealing out offices, honors, and emoluments is multiplied; and all the means of seducing the minds are added to those of subduing the force of the people. The same malignant aspect in republicanism may be traced in the inequality of fortunes and the opportunities of fraud growing out of a state of war, and in the degeneracy of manners and of morals engendered by both. No nation could reserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare."
James Madison
Political Observations
April 20, 1795
"Observe good faith and justice towards all nations; cultivate peace and harmony with all. Religion and morality enjoin this conduct; and can it be, that good policy does not equally enjoin it - It will be worthy of a free, enlightened, and at no distant period, a great nation, to give to mankind the magnanimous and too novel example of a people always guided by an exalted justice and benevolence. Who can doubt that, in the course of time and things, the fruits of such a plan would richly repay any temporary advantages which might be lost by a steady adherence to it ? ...
In the execution of such a plan, nothing is more essential than that permanent, inveterate antipathies against particular nations, and passionate attachments for others, should be excluded; and that, in place of them, just and amicable feelings towards all should be cultivated. The nation which indulges towards another a habitual hatred or a habitual fondness is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its animosity or to its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest. ...
So likewise, a passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favorite nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest in cases where no real common interest exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter without adequate inducement or justification. ...
As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways, such attachments are particularly alarming to the truly enlightened and independent patriot. How many opportunities do they afford to tamper with domestic factions, to practice the arts of seduction, to mislead public opinion, to influence or awe the public councils. Such an attachment of a small or weak towards a great and powerful nation dooms the former to be the satellite of the latter."
George Washington
Washington's Farewell Address
1796
If it makes you feel better about yourself to label me, I am comfortable in knowing I am in good company in my beliefs.
Small government means more power to the states and less power to the federal government.. the Republicans want less federal government and more power given to the states.. smaller government.
Do you have any idea why we have bases in various parts of the world? Do you think that makes us an "occupying" force?
Besides, I didn't know this thread was about defense spending. I thought the OP was asking where we should cut. Seems to me, the place to start is where the FEDERAL government has NO RIGHT spending the American Taxpayer's money.
Small government means more power to the states and less power to the federal government.. the Republicans want less federal government and more power given to the states.. smaller government.
Start with the UN. Stop making payments to the UN and stop providing financial aid to nations ruled by dictators or who support Islamic terrorist. Make a change in congress stating that nothing can be added to a bill that isn't directly related to the purpose of the bill. That would get rid of pork projects. Close US military bases on foreign soil. We still have troop presence that originated in WW2, Korea, and Bosnia/Kosovo. Eliminat those bases, bring those troops back to USA, and open new bases along our border with Mexico. The troops would act as the muscle for our Border Patrol. Politicians like having those foreign bases so they can use their Congressional budget to pay for a vacation to those countries under the guise of inspecting the condition of our nation's troops and bases. I saw this first hand in Italy. Eliminate government agencies we didn't have prior to 1970. Agency regulation has become a way of creating laws without having to go through the senate and the House of Representatives. They're called regulation but they're enforced under penalty of the courts and possible jail time. Sounds like a law to me.
Small government means more power to the states and less power to the federal government.. the Republicans want less federal government and more power given to the states.. smaller government.
That is what they claim but their actions do not bear this out.
There's room to debate THIS, but why not start with the obvious Social programs they are absolutely not authorized to intervene in? We have regulatory agencies MAKING LAW. This should be the first order of business when deciding what to cut.
As for the rest, cosider Thomas Jefferson and his Bush-like response to the Barbary Pirates.
"Of all the enemies to public liberty, war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded, because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes; and armies, and debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few. In war, too, the discretionary power of the Executive is extended; its influence in dealing out offices, honors, and emoluments is multiplied; and all the means of seducing the minds are added to those of subduing the force of the people. The same malignant aspect in republicanism may be traced in the inequality of fortunes and the opportunities of fraud growing out of a state of war, and in the degeneracy of manners and of morals engendered by both. No nation could reserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare."
James Madison
Political Observations
April 20, 1795
"Observe good faith and justice towards all nations; cultivate peace and harmony with all. Religion and morality enjoin this conduct; and can it be, that good policy does not equally enjoin it - It will be worthy of a free, enlightened, and at no distant period, a great nation, to give to mankind the magnanimous and too novel example of a people always guided by an exalted justice and benevolence. Who can doubt that, in the course of time and things, the fruits of such a plan would richly repay any temporary advantages which might be lost by a steady adherence to it ? ...
In the execution of such a plan, nothing is more essential than that permanent, inveterate antipathies against particular nations, and passionate attachments for others, should be excluded; and that, in place of them, just and amicable feelings towards all should be cultivated. The nation which indulges towards another a habitual hatred or a habitual fondness is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its animosity or to its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest. ...
So likewise, a passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favorite nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest in cases where no real common interest exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter without adequate inducement or justification. ...
As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways, such attachments are particularly alarming to the truly enlightened and independent patriot. How many opportunities do they afford to tamper with domestic factions, to practice the arts of seduction, to mislead public opinion, to influence or awe the public councils. Such an attachment of a small or weak towards a great and powerful nation dooms the former to be the satellite of the latter."
George Washington
Washington's Farewell Address
1796
If it makes you feel better about yourself to label me, I am comfortable in knowing I am in good company in my beliefs.
Start with the UN. Stop making payments to the UN and stop providing financial aid to nations ruled by dictators or who support Islamic terrorist. Make a change in congress stating that nothing can be added to a bill that isn't directly related to the purpose of the bill. That would get rid of pork projects. Close US military bases on foreign soil. We still have troop presence that originated in WW2, Korea, and Bosnia/Kosovo. Eliminat those bases, bring those troops back to USA, and open new bases along our border with Mexico. The troops would act as the muscle for our Border Patrol. Politicians like having those foreign bases so they can use their Congressional budget to pay for a vacation to those countries under the guise of inspecting the condition of our nation's troops and bases. I saw this first hand in Italy. Eliminate government agencies we didn't have prior to 1970. Agency regulation has become a way of creating laws without having to go through the senate and the House of Representatives. They're called regulation but they're enforced under penalty of the courts and possible jail time. Sounds like a law to me.
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Perhaps I should have just said ...Yeah typical liberal isolationist mentality.
EXACTLY!
