"Taking on what new debt? The $100 million to maintain our nuclear arsenal?"
No, taking on a new 100 billion dollar debt for an unproven program.
As to perceived inconsistencies in my statements, it is because you have either misrepresented them or taken them out of context.
Look, I am an unrepentent populist. The problems in this country are so massive and largely ignored because of inadequate funding, that taking on massive new expenditures is really a concern to me as it should be to any thinking person.
Mercifully, we have a robust economy, yet the problems worsen. Why? Because we tend to piss the money away on B.S. programs that benefit a few oligarchs, or paying interest on a bloated debt, as opposed to using the money wisely like guarding our borders or improving the educational system.
First you lament spending money on weapon's systems we will never use, i.e., nuclear weapons. Then, you decry the plans to modernize our aging nuclear arsenal and want us to use "proven technology" even though you have no idea what you are talking about from a technical standpoint. Finally, you want our political leadership to grow a pair like HST and use nuclear weapons. You are madder than a March hare.
Look, I am an unrepentent populist. The problems in this country are so massive and largely ignored because of inadequate funding, that taking on massive new expenditures is really a concern to me as it should be to any thinking person.
$100 billion is not a massive new expenditure, especially as it is spaced over a number of years, "The current schedule, which is subject to change, would call for the president to make a decision in a year or two and, if approved, to begin engineering development by fiscal year 2010 and production by 2012." The status quo is not an option and we have no idea what it would cost following your prescription. We are already spending around $4 billion a year maintain the current arsenal.
Mercifully, we have a robust economy, yet the problems worsen. Why? Because we tend to piss the money away on B.S. programs that benefit a few oligarchs, or paying interest on a bloated debt, as opposed to using the money wisely like guarding our borders or improving the educational system.
Almost half of the budget is being spent on entitlement programs. Social Security pays more than $450 billion in benefits each year. If nothing is done, by 2060, the combination of Social Security and Medicare will account for more than 71 percent of the federal budget. Defense spending is about 20%, which is equal to about the rest of the world combined. Servicing the national debt costs 17 cents out of every dollar of revenue collected. I don't want the federal government spending more money on education, but rather, less.
Unless we get the entitlement programs under control, we are headed for a train wreck.