The Neo-Republicans to cut spending only by $50B

[bamacre]

I am being serious, and I'm not saying that structure is good for our economy, but it is a large part of it. Eliminate or reduce that and the rest of the economy will suffer. It's not good, but it is part of it. You could make billions of dollars in cuts to the defense budget and only get thousands in returns. Is that really worth it? i don't like the large military, but it is a good part of the American economy. Think of the people that live off of military salaries, the people that live off of the contractor's salaries, the r&d salaries, etc. What happens when those people no longer have their gravy train?

When the people can stop paying all those useless salaries, they have money to spend elsewhere, on products and services that are actually useful to them. Those who produce those products and service increase the amount of people they employ. This is how an economy works, or rather, should work.

 

[Craig234]

We spend more than double the entire rest of the earth combined.

It is sad in a way that we are spending ourselves into oblivion as if the cold war never ended.

Actually, we spend about the same as the rest of the world combined.

However, since every country has a 'base' military cost of things like troops, our extra puts us many multiples ahead of anyone else on 'advanced' military spending.

I'd like to see the figure when 'basic defense' is taken out of the remaining spending. I suspect that is far more than the rest of the world combined.

 

[Brigandier]

When the people can stop paying all those useless salaries, they have money to spend elsewhere, on products and services that are actually useful to them. Those who produce those products and service increase the amount of people they employ. This is how an economy works, or rather, should work.

Great, get to work on making that reality, and good luck. The world is long past working as it should and is now working as we make it work. As long as that continues, any plan that relies on should will fail.

 

[bamacre]

Great, get to work on making that reality, and good luck. The world is long past working as it should and is now working as we make it work. As long as that continues, any plan that relies on should will fail.

Actually, no, any plan to make the economy work in a way it shouldn't will fail.

I am surprised I am arguing these ideas with someone who has Ayn Rand quotes in his sig.

 

[Brigandier]

Actually, no, any plan to make the economy work in a way it shouldn't will fail.

I am surprised I am arguing these ideas with someone who has Ayn Rand quotes in his sig.

I honestly don't think we're arguing. I really wish Americans were free and the economy reflected that, but because that isn't so I must deal with what is. While a huge military cut would prove beneficial in the long run, in the the short term it would cause massive problems for an already problematic American economy.

Unfortunately, the problem right now isn't finding solutions, the problem is finding solutions that don't break the rest of the system. Thank many decades of big government for that.

 

[bamacre]

I honestly don't think we're arguing. I really wish Americans were free and the economy reflected that, but because that isn't so I must deal with what is. While a huge military cut would prove beneficial in the long run, in the the short term it would cause massive problems for an already problematic American economy.

Unfortunately, the problem right now isn't finding solutions, the problem is finding solutions that don't break the rest of the system. Thank many decades of big government for that.

Gotcha. And definitely agree. :thumbsup:

 

[werepossum]

I honestly don't think we're arguing. I really wish Americans were free and the economy reflected that, but because that isn't so I must deal with what is. While a huge military cut would prove beneficial in the long run, in the the short term it would cause massive problems for an already problematic American economy.

Unfortunately, the problem right now isn't finding solutions, the problem is finding solutions that don't break the rest of the system. Thank many decades of big government for that.

Well put. Personally I'm happy with the size of the military, but I do wish we could bring home the troops scattered all over the world once these two wars are over. Instead, we should concentrate on improving our means of quickly deploying massive numbers of troops and equipment where needed. Then many of the troops engaged in base operations could be cut or swapped for more combat troops, especially infantry, and the cost of running the bases would be going directly into the American economy rather than disappearing into other countries' economies.

Outside of Iraq, Afghanistan, and South Korea none of our troops are actively in a war zone. I'm betting that, say, Germany is much more addicted to American dollars than actually afraid of Russia. If I'm wrong, then surely Germany would happily keep open a base for US troops just in case Russia invades. I'd like to see the USA take a much more isolationist stance in the world whilst retaining the ability to wage war on a large scale if needed. As far as Iraq and Afghanistan: "We're pulling out now. But we'll happily sell you weapons to defend yourself. And we promise that if terrorists and their supporters do overthrow you, we'll bomb the living shit out all your government buildings, ports, airports, etc. And after they are all dead or scattered, you can come take over and rebuild - on your own this time. Because all we really want is to be left alone, which we can accomplish with a friendly government, or with an unfriendly government at a seventh century tech level. Your choice."