Plus, the Dept of Energy does some needed research I think.
Get rid of the EPA which has cost this nation billions; stop bail outs; stop billions to the UN and nations that hate us; stop paying the medical, educational and food stamps tab for illegals...all should be stopped now.
Education is also heavily subsidized by local taxes.
Where is that "energy" clause again?
Like what?
So Dept. of Defense is 21%, and when you add in Global War on Terror, Veterans Administration, and Homeland Security, then 28.6% of our budget is in defense and care of our soldiers.
The biggest problem I have heard articulated is spending too much money on hardware. There is a disturbing new book “The Prophets of War” about the machinations of the Military/Industrial Complex that Ike warned us about. I recently sent my son (who is doing his 20 in Special Forces and has served in Iraq and Afghanistan) a clipping about a new field weapon: “US deploys ‘game-changing’ weapon to Afghanistan”. Here is what he wrote to me:
“Neato. Now if we only had a national strategy to address our current set of problems.
The American military is an all volunteer force. As such, nearly everything that is found in the civilian world can be found in the military. There is not a special farm where we grow soldiers. We recruit them out of the general population. Many of our military solutions are simply reflections of our overall national culture. Americans like to solve their problems with technology - even if technology it’s self is the problem. This war has been a boon for soldier equipment. Our force has never been so well equipped.
Unfortunately, we lack the soft skills (like language and cultural awareness) needed to truly affect tactical and strategic outcomes. This new weapon, while potentially useful, is not worth the $25k a copy we will pay
for it. That money would be better spent sending troops to language schools.
And this is why the budget is so out of control. Buying weapons is a legitimate military expense. Most likely, there is no ‘waste, fraud, and abuse’ in this program. But, are we getting the best bang for our defense buck? The DoD routinely makes legitimate legal purchases for things we don’t need, don’t want, can’t use, or won’t work. If you went to a commander on the ground in Afghanistan and asked him if he wants a $25k grenade launcher or a soldier that can speak Pashto, I am pretty sure he will tell you to keep the grenade launcher.
Never the less, all of this is only so much window dressing without the national will to actually prosecute the war, or a clear national strategy to bring the war to a favorable conclusion.”
Basically he confirms the thesis of the book that much too much is being spent on systems. What the book further emphasizes is that even when the DOD says it does not need some kind of hardward, our Congresscritters insist on funding it to keep their constituents employed. As FReepers and Tea Party people, we are now in a position to hold the lobbiest’s feet to the fire and regain control of our Congresscritters.