Originally Posted by HugAJackass
Originally Posted by KFWA
so the argument is that our government is just going to spend the money on something, might as well be long term military engagements?

we are truly screwed as a nation if this is the fall back position on military spending.


No, now who's reading something into what isn't there? smile

The argument is that the Government is supposed to spend money on National Defense.

Nation Building (currently what's happening in Afghanistan) is not in the interest of National Defense.

Seek and destroy threats is in the interest of National Defense.

That's premise number one.

Premise number two is that HOW we are spending money on National Defense is flawed and certainly needs to be addressed.

Premise number three is that Iran is a threat and needs to be addressed. A Nuclear Iran will be much harder to address.

Premise number four is that our weakness is in our culture of spending in Washington. That's what has weakened us in regards to a Global Superpower. The heavy burden of taxation the Federal Gov exerts on the private sector economy has driven industry to such places as China. The wasteful spending conducted by Washington has left us unable to compete.


but you still won't address the main question - are we supposed to spend money we don't have on national defense?

and your response was basically to say that Washington is going to spend money we don't have anyways, so make it on defense. That's a cop out that avoids the question.

Yes or no - is there a limit to the debt we incur and the sacrifice we'll make in order to maintain a presence in the middle east and the world militarily?

btw, when Reagan was president the tax rate on the wealthy was hovering near 50% and we had arguably the largest military expansion per capita since WWII. He still couldn't do it without deficit spending. I'm not sure the taxation argument has any merit.

The reality is that 1 out of 2 people in this country are at the poverty level and we have 10K a day people retiring, many of which depend on Social Security to support them. The idea that we can change the culture of spending in Washington against a voting public depending on Washington spending isn't going to fly. The reason I throw that in is because to say we can continue to spend on military by diverting waste and entitlement spending isn't reality.

And HOW the government spends military money may be a debate but for every person who thinks we can't allow a nuclear Iran, they'll be another that tells us why we can't close the base in Korea, or Japan.

Last edited by KFWA; 07/31/12.
have you paid your dues, can you moan the blues, can you bend them guitar strings