How Our Trillion-Dollar Empire Is the Cause of Our 'Deficit Problem'

[CurtEastPoint]

We could make the budget deficit disappear and fully fund Social Security and Medicare without raising taxes, if we only outspend our biggest military rival by threefold.

The United States spends more on its military and security services than the rest of the world combined, yet in the midst of a major debate over our fiscal situation, that enormous drain on our national treasure isn't really "on the table" in any serious way. Obama's deficit commission recommended cutting the Pentagon's purse, but the thrust of its focus was on veterans' pensions and health-care -- rather than, say, maintaining costly bases to defend such imperiled allies as Italy and Germany -- and the spending reductions were largely symbolic relative to the level of bloat that plagues our security budget.

Full article: http://www.alternet.org/economy/149019/how_our_trillion-dollar_empire_is_the_cause_of_our_%27deficit_problem%27/

Why DO we, in 2010, have these bases in Europe, etc.?

[DirkGently]

1. It's the big, stinking elephant in the Deficit / Austerity room. nt.

[social_critic]

2. But I feel much better if we got enough weapons to destroy the Solar System

You guys think too small. We got to make sure we defend democracy across all of known space, as far as Pluto's orbit. And this takes money.

[Bigmack]

3. Chalmers Johnson said it best....

His three books on our Empire are the best.

Shorthand version.... We are Fucked!

The Empire can't last and we will break ourselves rather than go gracefully.

I'd say that this country will get what it deserves, but a lot of us don't deserve what's coming... we saw and spoke, but nobody listened.