Spending is a two pronged monster. It is both domestic and defense.
Remember, we didn’t drive the Soviet Union to collapse because of their domestic spending. We drove them to collapse because we forced them to keep their military budget at a level that they couldn’t sustain, that sucked their economy dry and so they collapsed.
If you’re going to fight wars then you’ll have to pay for it. I love tax cuts. I hate taxes. I will say right now Bush’s biggest mistake was cutting taxes while we were at war. There is a time and place for tax cuts. War is not that time. And before you attack me just consider how this country responded to WWI and II vs the current one. In both cases people were asked to sacrifice and they did. They felt a part of the war effort. As a result, you didn’t have people protesting either war. Bush never asked the American people to sacrifice.
If it was really all that important then he should have told the American people that there would be sacrifices and that we would be paying for it either through drastic service and employment cuts from the federal government or through measures to sustain revenue to fight the war.
Hell, even asking the American people to buy government bonds would have helped alleviate the situation but he didn’t even do that.
“Bush never asked the American people to sacrifice.”
I remember thinking the same thing. I wanted him to ask us for sacrifice to make it seem we were all in this together.
I see a declining global role for the US and a reduction in defense spending. Unfortunately, we will not have the luxury of someone else picking up the bill like Europe did, i.e., the US provided the security umbrella to allow them to increase the social welfare state.
Not at all! Revenue rose from $1.78 trillion in 2003 to $2.4 trillion by 2006.
Our national debt increased about 90% under Bush’s administration. A lot of people blame that on the war. The fact is, the war was costly, but it wasn’t the problem. The problem was run-away spending across the board.
Today Obama says he’s trying to get the budget under control by cutting NASA and military projects. The fact is, while those do consume billions, those are pittances compared to domestic give-aways.
We spend a trillion here and a trillion there, and none of it is going to the military. We need to get off this kick of siding with those who wish to see our military even smaller, or defenses even weaker.
That IS NOT the road to success. It’s the road to failure, to mediocrity, to an also ran status.
If you look at the percentage of the national budget the military expense makes up, you’ll note that it is smaller today as a percentage then it has been in decades. So while Russia, China, Iran, and other nations procure more weapons and are thereby a bigger threat, we see our people suggesting we need to spend less.
Not on the military we don’t...
*And before you attack me just consider how this country responded to WWI and II vs the current one. In both cases people were asked to sacrifice and they did. *
Millions of men and women under arms and the entire globe [save S. America] were war theaters or on war footing.
No comparison.
we already pay 50% or higher of our yearly income in taxes...what do you want next?...blood?
for the record, I never supported this "war" but after it started I am 100% behind support of out troops...