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Carter increased defense spending by 50% in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
China has a larger military than the US, and has for some time now. The USSR always had a much larger military than our own, which is why we had to focus on advanced technology as opposed to sheer numbers for effective deterrence during the Cold War.
In any case the fact remains that we spend more than double on social programs than we do the military, and reducing either one is political suicide.
I see what your saying. China has more people in their military. But it is still a pretty useless military.
I say we cut all social programs. All of them. It's like haveing unemployment insurance. Who besides a government official would devise a plan to pay people not to work? LOLs. It is absolutley the most retarded thing I ever heard of. Pay people not to work and we should expect people not to work.
And ditto that. Cutting either is political suicide. That's why we'll just keep spending until everything collapses.
Who is responsible for the current state of big money pit of the military and why are so many repubs against paying taxes to support it but in favor of keeping it overstuffed and inefficient?Fyi, i am neither a democrat or republican.I think labels are worthless.I know there is hypocrisy and a lot of waste on the left side of the fence as well but thought i'd start on the right.Am i wrong to ask this?
I don't mind paying taxes at all to support the military. I don't like paying taxes to support massive social programs and freebies to dead beats.
The problem with that is there was not much of a standing army immediatley after the Constituition was written. Most of the founders were against a large standing army. Which is what we have today.
Switzerland had no military. (or a very, very small one) yet they haven't been in a war since the 1800s. Hitler wouldn't even go in there and he was trying to kill everyone.
Have you looked at a map of the world to see where Switzerland is? Who would want to go in there? What do they have that anyone wants?
Quote:
Originally Posted by OhioIstheBest
We have the largest military in history and we have been in perpetual warfare since 1940. With no end in sight. I believe Bush said the war on terrorism could take generations. And no one seems to be doing much about ending it. No country can stay in perpetual warfare and survive. Any country that tried it eventually broke.
No free country can remain free with out the means to defend their freedom.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OhioIstheBest
And the 9/11 commission said 9/11 happened because of our overseas aggression, not because of unwillingness to fight. We've been fighting one country or another since 1940.
The 9/11 commission said no such thing. Prove it. That ignores plain facts. Muslims think the West is the "great Satan". That's why they want to destroy it. This is about their belliefs vs. ours. They hate the West. They believe that they are doing this for Allah. You have no understanding whatsoever about Muslims.
It matters not what we do. We are basically Christians. That is why they hate us. They hate Jews too, and want to destroy them. That is what it is about, plain and simple. They call Christians and Jews, "pigs".
Those of you who believe as you do, do so because you have no Bible knowledge. If you did, you would understand who the Muslims are, and why they hate Christians and Jews. Allah has told them to "fight the infidel" and "kill them". It has nothing to do with "our aggression" (What aggression?).
No free country can remain free with out the means to defend their freedom.
Muslims think the West is the "great Satan". That's why they want to destroy it. This is about their belliefs vs. ours. They hate the West. They believe that they are doing this for Allah. You have no understanding whatsoever about Muslims.
It matters not what we do. We are basically Christians. That is why they hate us. They hate Jews too, and want to destroy them. That is what it is about, plain and simple. They call Christians and Jews, "pigs".
Those of you who believe as you do, do so because you have no Bible knowledge. If you did, you would understand who the Muslims are, and why they hate Christians and Jews. Allah has told them to "fight the infidel" and "kill them". It has nothing to do with "our aggression" (What aggression?).
We should have a military to defend ourselves - that is where it should end. We are already a free country
Your views on Muslims, gives More Reason to pull our troops out of that area of the world. Our government has no business "fighting a religious crusade" of any kind.
Total Outlays (Federal Funds): $2,650 billion
MILITARY: 54% and $1,449 billion
NON-MILITARY: 46% and $1,210 billion
According to the BEA, which also keeps tabs on government expenditure, receipts, and other relevant statistics, our government has $5.09 trillion allocated for spending as of the 4th quarter of 2009 and $5.4 trillion in total spending:
Consumption expenditure amounts to $2.45 trillion
Spending on social benefits is $2.14 trillion
Interest payments are $392 billion
Subsidies amounted to $60 billion
A break down of Consumption expenditure (the $1.17 trillion for federal, $1.8 billion state & local) and investment (an additional $517 billion):
Federal consumption expenditure is $1.17 trillion
National defense is $793 billion
Non-defense is $376 billion
State governments spent $1.8 trillion in consumption expenditure
Here is another break down of the defense budget ($793 billion):
showing that pie chart means NOTHING because it is just the discretionary spending,,,,which is only 1.6 trillion
the OTHER side,,,which is the MANDITORY spending is 2.14 trillion of which nearly half goes to social spending
on top of that the INTEREST ON THE DEBT is nearly one half a trillion
Here is your typical white "working class" male who is arguing that Social Security is social spending on par with welfare. Never mind you don't get social security if you don't work. Never mind it comes from payroll taxes not Federal income taxes. He thinks we should do away with Social Security cause that's welfare for brown people. He wants to cut it rather than this grotesque Defense budget we have.
Do you see now why right wing middleclass and poor GOP voters can't even understand simple concepts that enable them to vote in their own interest?
Or maybe he thinks we should default on our interest payments? Putting Millions of senior citizens into bread lines?
Carter increased defense spending by 50% in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
No, he didn't. Where are you getting that from? I was around for those horrible Carter years. I remember. Long gas lines, double digit inflation, double digit interest rates, and Carter cut the military. If I'm wrong, prove it? That was one of the things Reagan campaigned on. Carter had reduced our military. Reagan believed in a stong defense.
Quote:
Upon his inauguration, he provided a “strong defense” by slashing defense spending $6 billion (in 2003 dollars) in the first two years of his administration, canceling the B-1 bomber, and decimating the U.S. fleet. [9] Gerald Ford warned this would devastate military preparedness in their second debate but was instead remembered for quipping, “there is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe.”
Carter boasts as president he set about “convincing the Soviets of our ability and resolve to respond.” [10] Unfortunately, his response was naïvete and unilateral surrender. Carter failed to consult either the Pentagon or the Kremlin before removing U.S. missiles from South Korea within hours of his inauguration, a move Brezhnev interpreted as weakness rather than conciliation. In 1979, Brezhnev refused to remove Soviet submarines and aircraft from Cuba.
FrontPage Magazine - A Failed Former President (http://97.74.65.51/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=6555 - broken link)
The above agrees with my recollection.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Frankie117
China has a larger military than the US, and has for some time now. The USSR always had a much larger military than our own, which is why we had to focus on advanced technology as opposed to sheer numbers for effective deterrence during the Cold War.
I think your wrong on both counts. What is your source?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Frankie117
In any case the fact remains that we spend more than double on social programs than we do the military, and reducing either one is political suicide.
On that, I can agree. But, we have got to reduce the "social" spending. We have no choice. We do not have the money. We are deep in debt. We are not in a good position. We are slaves to the countries that own our debt (primarily, China).
Last edited by nononsenseguy; 02-02-2010 at 05:29 PM..
No, he didn't. Where are you getting that from? I was around for those horrible Carter years. I remember. Long gas lines, double digit inflation, double digit interest rates, and Carter cut the military. If I'm wrong, prove it? That was one of the things Reagan campaigned on. Carter had reduced our military. Reagan believed in a stong defense.
Correct.. Carter downsized the military. The USMC was almost halved.
US Navy and USAF by 35% Army by almost 40%. But Carter did not reduce Gov spending. He simply diverted funds to other areas.
I think your wrong on both counts. What is your source?
China has the largest standing army in the world and has been the largest for quite some time. However they by comparison to the USA are poorly equiped with obsolete equipment.
The USSR after Carters cuts had a 4 to 1 advantage over the US Military.
The Soviet navy had a 3 to 1 advantage.
On that, I can agree. But, we have got to reduce the "social" spending. We have no choice. We do not have the money. We are deep in debt. We are not in a good position. We are slaves to the countries that own our debt (primarily, China).
bek raising your hand is so much easier than reaching for your wallet.
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