Should the U.S. Cut Military Spending by 60% (Congress, Obama, dollars)

[pvande55]

Then defense contractors would have to lower their price for a hammer to $242.00. Light bulbs for only $24.00. How will they stay profitable?

[NomadScribe]

Originally Posted by desertdetroiter

Officers are available 10 to 12 hours a day...yes. But doing what? Hard work? Ummm...not really. Officers put in long hours because most don't dare leave work until the commander leaves work. It's all paper pushing for the most part for them. The NCO's do the labor....the commissioned officers get the credit.

That's not to say that all commissioned officers are lazy. On the contrary. But still, their days are filled with mostly mundane and routine tasks. Running a G1 or G4 shop aint that hard if your NCO's know their stuff.

Ok, I will not dispute that you know more than me on this tip. But after years in various civilian jobs where people "work" 8 hour shifts I would say the military shift I observe is indeed more taxing. Perhaps you disagree. I recognize that duties and shifts differ greatly according to posts but to be frank, the servicemember schedules I observe are far more intense than any civilian work schedule I have seen.

Perhaps percpetion of what officers do also lends to a bit of the misconception that "paper pushing" is as easy as pouring a cup of joe

P.S. The post we are connected to has guys (enlisted especially) routinely working on weekends. Often starting at 6 am on Sat. to go into "the field"

I guess you have never been to a post that actually demands something of you. Thats the Army's fault really.

[desertdetroiter]

Originally Posted by NomadScribe

Ok, I will not dispute that you know more than me on this tip. But after years in various civilian jobs where people "work" 8 hour shifts I would say the military shift I observe is indeed more taxing. Perhaps you disagree. I recognize that duties and shifts differ greatly according to posts but to be frank, the servicemember schedules I observe are far more intense than any civilian work schedule I have seen.

Perhaps percpetion of what officers do also lends to a bit of the misconception that "paper pushing" is as easy as pouring a cup of joe

P.S. The post we are connected to has guys (enlisted especially) routinely working on weekends. Often starting at 6 am on Sat. to go into "the field"

I guess you have never been to a post that actually demands something of you. Thats the Army's fault really.

I was stationed at Benning for about 15 months (in the old 197th Inf Brigade on Kelly Hill). And if you're married to an Infantry officer, i don't need to say more.

Again, i'll freely acknowledge that the officer corps puts in long hours. For them, it's mostly logistical work. Even Infantry officers have mostly mundane tasks. If you're a Platoon Leader, your Platoon Sgt. handles your heavy work. If you're an XO, your supply sergeant, training NCO, and operations Sgt handles the heavy work. Commanders depend on the First Sgts. and Sergeant Majors to get the work done. And even at the staff level (G1,2,3,4,6) most officers depend on the NCO's to do the actual work. If he has sharp NCO's, most officers have it pretty good. They only need to put a signature on the paper and do a report.

Some troops work weekends...you're absolutely right. And i'm not talking about the guys on duty details like Staff Duty officer and NCO, but doing the actual work that needs to get done. There is a good reason for that....the troops spend so much time during the week doing stupid details and often useless training, that their actual jobs don't get done. If your vehicles need to be up to 90% ready and they aren't....and meanwhile, your mechanics can't get in more than a few hours a day turning wrenches because of sh*t details.....then guess what? You're gonna do it in the evenings and on the weekends. I've seen it time and time again.

Your husband signed up to be an officer, which is great. And i'm sure he likes it. Infantry officers generally love that branch. But being in the infantry doesn't preclude him from having to deal with the politics of the officer corps....that is, spending ridiculously long hours at the office. Officers are under pressure to put in those hours often based on the perception that a good leader doesn't go home at 1700 hrs...even if the work is done. And God forbid that he works under a commander that likes to hang out at the office til late, because you'd better not leave before he does. It's a dumb game that the officer corps has been playing for years in the Army.

Anyway...i'm sure you're very proud of your husband. I know how tough it's gotta be at this OP-Tempo since the wars started.

[workingclasshero]

Originally Posted by oldtimer2

Is it time we rethink our national priorities?

Do we cut our military spending back down to an amount much more affordable?

1) Yep

2) Nope

If we do cut, how much should we cut?

Would you favor a 60% cut?

NO

cut EVERYTHING, to include welfare, ss, medicare, medicaid, etc by 15-20%

we spend MORE of social services (welfare,food stampds, etc) than we do on the military

[oldtimer2]

Originally Posted by workingclasshero

NO

cut EVERYTHING, to include welfare, ss, medicare, medicaid, etc by 15-20%

we spend MORE of social services (welfare,food stampds, etc) than we do on the military

Uh. Not actually;

The Federal Pie Chart

Federal Budget Spending and the National Debt

US Federal Budget Pie Chart for FY11 - Charts

Social security is paid for with separate contributions of workers and employers, not income taxes and does not add to the debt.

[chielgirl]

Originally Posted by NomadScribe

Ok, I will not dispute that you know more than me on this tip. But after years in various civilian jobs where people "work" 8 hour shifts I would say the military shift I observe is indeed more taxing. Perhaps you disagree. I recognize that duties and shifts differ greatly according to posts but to be frank, the servicemember schedules I observe are far more intense than any civilian work schedule I have seen.

Perhaps percpetion of what officers do also lends to a bit of the misconception that "paper pushing" is as easy as pouring a cup of joe

P.S. The post we are connected to has guys (enlisted especially) routinely working on weekends. Often starting at 6 am on Sat. to go into "the field"

I guess you have never been to a post that actually demands something of you. Thats the Army's fault really.

If enlisted guys are working on weekends, they're getting 2 days off during the week.
I'm seeing 4-day weekends "training holidays" at least once a month.
I've been all over the world on bases, it's pretty much the same everywhere.

[RCCCB]

Originally Posted by oldtimer2

Is it time we rethink our national priorities?

Do we cut our military spending back down to an amount much more affordable?

1) Yep

2) Nope

If we do cut, how much should we cut?

Would you favor a 60% cut?

Cut entitlements like that and more will get off their butt to work.

[Brian Scates]

Mandatory spending: $2.009 trillion (-20.1%)
$695 billion (+4.9%) – Social Security
$571 billion (−15.2%) – Other mandatory programs
$453 billion (+6.6%) – Medicare
$290 billion (+12.0%) – Medicaid
$164 billion (+18.0%) – Interest on National Debt
$11 billion (+275%) – Potential disaster costs
$0 billion (−100%) – Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP)
$0 billion (−100%) – Financial stabilization efforts


US receipt and expenditure estimates for fiscal year 2010.
Discretionary spending: $1.368 trillion (+13.1%)
$663.7 billion (+12.7%) – Department of Defense (including Overseas Contingency Operations)
$78.7 billion (−1.7%) – Department of Health and Human Services
$72.5 billion (+2.8%) – Department of Transportation
$52.5 billion (+10.3%) – Department of Veterans Affairs
$51.7 billion (+40.9%) – Department of State and Other International Programs
$47.5 billion (+18.5%) – Department of Housing and Urban Development
$46.7 billion (+12.8%) – Department of Education
$42.7 billion (+1.2%) – Department of Homeland Security
$26.3 billion (−0.4%) – Department of Energy
$26.0 billion (+8.8%) – Department of Agriculture
$23.9 billion (−6.3%) – Department of Justice
$18.7 billion (+5.1%) – National Aeronautics and Space Administration
$13.8 billion (+48.4%) – Department of Commerce
$13.3 billion (+4.7%) – Department of Labor
$13.3 billion (+4.7%) – Department of the Treasury
$12.0 billion (+6.2%) – Department of the Interior
$10.5 billion (+34.6%) – Environmental Protection Agency
$9.7 billion (+10.2%) – Social Security Administration
$7.0 billion (+1.4%) – National Science Foundation
$5.1 billion (−3.8%) – Corps of Engineers
$5.0 billion (+100%) – National Infrastructure Bank
$1.1 billion (+22.2%) – Corporation for National and Community Service
$0.7 billion (0.0%) – Small Business Administration
$0.6 billion (−14.3%) – General Services Administration
$19.8 billion (+3.7%) – Other Agencies
$105 billion – Other

[ibarrio]

I say yes, cut the spending.

[Loveshiscountry]

Originally Posted by oldtimer2

Is it time we rethink our national priorities?

Do we cut our military spending back down to an amount much more affordable?

1) Yep

2) Nope

If we do cut, how much should we cut?

Would you favor a 60% cut?

I sure would. All great empires come to an end when they expand and live beyond their means. From the Romans to the Russians this has been true.

No where in the constitution does it say we are to be the policemen of the world. Our military should only be used to protect our borders.

If you believe in the ideals of the Tea Party you believe in reducing the debt and smaller government. Grandstanders can go home.