Conservatives: Should our defense budget be on the chopping block?

[OneOfTheseDays]

Yes or no.

You claim to be fiscally conservative and run your mouth about how PBS and NASA are bankrupting this country, while ignoring the single biggest culprit and contributor to our deficit...our military defense budget.

 

[xBiffx]

Absolutely. The military in its current form is not built to just provide for the common defense as is constitutionally required. Rather is seems we like to provide for the common offense.

 

[MovingTarget]

Financial conservatives would say yes. Other types....perhaps not. There are many types of conservatives.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

It seems to me that things should be under constant review regardless of ideology, left or right, but that's just me I suppose.

 

[Craig234]

Can we call it the military budget instead of the defense budget? It's an issue of propaganda.

 

[Zargon]

dot think we have a choice, everything needs trimmed

 

[QuantumPion]

cutting military to balance the budget - maybe.

cutting the military to pay for ballooning welfare programs - lol.

 

[spidey07]

Yes or no.

You claim to be fiscally conservative and run your mouth about how PBS and NASA are bankrupting this country, while ignoring the single biggest culprit and contributor to our deficit...our military defense budget.

Umm, the single biggest by a long shot are entitlement programs.

But sure, we can try to realize efficiencies and cost saving measures in the defense budget provided we maintain the strongest and best trained/equipped military in the world.

 

[monovillage]

of course. ooops, i mean yes since you're trying to pin conservatives down.

 

[JS80]

Duh. Defense is no longer defense. It's a boondoggle.

 

[rudder]

Defense can be cut some. Although as a percentage of the total federal budget it is much smaller than entitlement programs. Especially when look at future projections.

 

[monovillage]

Can we call it the military budget instead of the defense budget? It's an issue of propaganda.

And if anyone in this forum knows, uses, understands and abuses propaganda it's Craig234

 

[Texashiker]

Defense budget cut - yes

Research and development cut - NO.

There is no need in having a nuclear stockpile that could destroy the world several times over. Its nothing more then wasted money.

 

[Wreckem]

Umm, the single biggest by a long shot are entitlement programs.

But sure, we can try to realize efficiencies and cost saving measures in the defense budget provided we maintain the strongest and best trained/equipped military in the world.

The US population benefits more from entitlements(social security, which isn't really an entitlement/medicare/medicaid) spending than they do on defense contractor welfare.

 

[Wreckem]

Defense budget cut - yes

Research and development cut - NO.

There is no need in having a nuclear stockpile that could destroy the world several times over. Its nothing more then wasted money.

They sorely need better R&D vetting. We waste so much on some of the R&D boondoggles. I mean for fucks sake we are still paying for that abortion that is the V22 Osprey which is twice as expensive, carries less, and is less capable than what it was/is replacing.

 

[Doc Savage Fan]

Yes.

OP, do you think we need to cut spending beyond military defense? Or do you just want to run your mouth and broadly demonize fiscal conservatives for hypocrisy that only liberal hacks (like you) imagine to be true? Think about it.

 

[Wreckem]

Yes.

OP, do you think we need to cut spending beyond military defense? Or do you just want to run your mouth and broadly demonize fiscal conservatives for hypocrisy that only liberal hacks (like you) imagine to be true? Think about it.

Cutting half a trillion from military spending is the largest, most sustainable cut the US can make.

Social Security isn't an entitlement program, not to mention the government for 3 decades now has raided TRILLIONS of dollars from Social Security.

Medicare/Medicaid are, but they are already cutting medicare payments but costs keep ballooning because of an aging population. Lets not forget medicare is already $40-60trillion underfunded.

Cut unemployment? Sure that's fine, its gotten excessive.

FYI
Social Security
Medicare
Medicaid
Unemployment
Military Spending
Debt payments

Are the 6 biggest expenditures. SS and Military Spending are the 2 biggest items. The US can cut ~half a trillion per year in military spending and still be spending 2-3 times as much as the next closest country.

 

[Genx87]

I have proposed a 50% cut to the defense budget followed with a 30% cut to social services.

So yes the military budget is on the chopping block in my opinion.

 

[FerrelGeek]

cutting military to balance the budget - maybe.

cutting the military to pay for ballooning welfare programs - lol.

Defense can be cut some. Although as a percentage of the total federal budget it is much smaller than entitlement programs. Especially when look at future projections.

This. I'm all for judicious cuts in defense spending. We should constantly be re-evaluating out short and long-term needs to ensure that we are prudently prepared. I'm all for scaling back or eliminating programs that are in place only to appease a congressdroids constituants. But military research has resulted in benefits to the private sector.

And if anyone in this forum knows, uses, understands and abuses propaganda it's Craig234

So true!!

 

[piasabird]

I dont think we need to be sending armies to defend Muslims. I would not send my son to fight a country full of terrorists. Either kill them all or keep them contained. No more nicer and gentler wars. That just equals lots of military casualties.

My take on defense is that in Iraq and in Afghanistan, we seemed to not have enough ground troops to go around. After you take ground it takes more troops to hold that ground. We could look at some of high tech and big-ticket items like Planes, Anti-Missile missles, Aircraft carriers, etc and maybe cut back on them for a while. In todays era an aircraft carrier seems to be an awful large target. A smaller faster Missile cruiser might actually make more sense. Just load it up with cruise missles. Fighter Planes that can take off and land vertically might make more sense also. It means you dont need a runway or a steam powered ram to launch planes.

You might look at why we took over or helped other to take over countries like Egypt of Lybia. We wasted a lot of money there for even more radical extremist governments to be put in place! It is hard to predict if life will be better in Liby or Egypt. I think a hands off approach to the middle east and Africa may be a better idea at this point. I predict much more war and unrest in Europe due to muslims. Violence seems to be everywhere you find Muslims.

 

[piasabird]

I think it is a mistake for the USA to try to make peace all over the world. It makes the rest of the world lazy. Let them defend themselves. It is time to pull out of countries like South Korea and Japan and Germany, etc. Let them build up their own defense and spend their own money. If they want us to stay they should pay us for protection.

The EU was unwilling to use their own military forces and spend their own money even in Libya. I think the EU and Nato should pay the USA for all the Planes and ships and bombs and missles that we used in Libya. We should pull out of most of Europe a little at a time to show them what kind of money it takes to defend Europe and the Mediteranian. Just say No to defending Europe.

I was watching some movie about how Italy had a war with Libya and they failed miserably to ever take over that country.

 

[Texashiker]

They sorely need better R&D vetting. We waste so much on some of the R&D boondoggles.

As long as we learn from those mistakes, then nothing has been lost.

 

[Doc Savage Fan]

Cutting half a trillion from military spending is the largest, most sustainable cut the US can make.

Social Security isn't an entitlement program, not to mention the government for 3 decades now has raided TRILLIONS of dollars from Social Security.

Medicare/Medicaid are, but they are already cutting medicare payments but costs keep ballooning because of an aging population. Lets not forget medicare is already $40-60trillion underfunded.

Cut unemployment? Sure that's fine, its gotten excessive.

FYI
Social Security
Medicare
Medicaid
Unemployment
Military Spending
Debt payments

Are the 6 biggest expenditures. SS and Military Spending are the 2 biggest items. The US can cut ~half a trillion per year in military spending and still be spending 2-3 times as much as the next closest country.

I hear you. I don't know if $.5 Trillion is the right number or not but it would make a huge dent. Here's a graph the some might find interesting...it appears that we're on a collision course with catastrophe....just a matter of time.

 

[Texashiker]

That chart is so full of crap, as long as the federal reserve can print money out of thin air, we have nothing to worry about.

Need more money? No problem, lets work those printing presses 24/7/365. Still not printing enough money, buy some more presses and hire more people.

 

[woolfe9999]

It's worth mentioning that the bulk of conservatives on ATP&N are more of the libertarian type, meaning a couple things. First off, socially conservative views are somewhat rare here. Second, many will support things like scaling back the military.

These conservatives, however, are not a representative sampling of American conservatives.

- wolf