Obama wants $400 billion in defense cuts by 2023

[center rising]

I can just hear the howls of protest by the reich wing.

Do it Barack, do it.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/04/13/obama-wants-400-billion-in-defense-cuts-by-2023/

[inna]

1. k&r, just for the good thought if nothing else.

it's... not a hoax, is it??

[somone]

2. He also wanted to put on those comfortable shoes, and let the tax cuts for the rich expire

[L0oniX]

3. Chump change.

[kentauros]

4. Really!

I was elated in the first half of that title and rolled my eyes in the second half :eyes:

400 billion per year would be a better deal.

[MadHound]

5. Let's do the math

Four hundred billion spread out over twelve years, ooo, thirty three billion a year. That amounts to less than the annual defense department allowances for inflation. Hell, the government has "lost" far more than four hundred billion over the past decade.

Cutting four hundred billion from next year's complete military budget, now that would be a good start. But despite giving a good speech, once again the follow up leaves much to be desired.

[Karmadillo]

6. Stop it! No Independent Thought!

nt

[MadHound]

8. Oh God, not again.

Room 101 for me then.

[Nevernose]

7. The defense budget is between .8 and 1.2 trillion per year

Depending upon the math you use and what you include/exclude (not all of our defense budget is actually included under the heading of "defense budget," mostly because confusing hell out of what should be simple things is what the government does best).

So, averaging the two at an even trillion, that's 400 billion out of 12 trillion, or about 5%.

[sad sally]

9. Don't forget about these military costs:

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan no longer dominate the evening news or the public’s consciousness. According to a recent poll, only 16 percent of Americans name the Iraq war as the story that first comes to mind when asked what has been in the news lately. But for the thousands of U.S. servicemen and servicewomen still serving in these war zones, the war remains a central part of their lives — and the lives of their families and loved ones. And for the thousands of veterans who return home with physical, their wounds can present particular challenges for years to come. However, many servicemen and servicewomen returning to the U.S. without noticeable or debilitating physical reminders of their service suffer from deep mental and emotional health issues.

Mental health is the second largest area of illness (after orthopedic problems) for which veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan seek treatment at Department of Veterans Affairs facilities. Veterans and their families face a wide range of mental health and addiction issues, including major depression, alcohol abuse (sometimes beginning in an effort to sleep), narcotic addiction (often beginning with pain medication for combat injuries), generalized anxiety disorder, job loss, family-dissolution, homelessness, violence toward self and others, and incarceration.

[democracy1st]

11. +1

[Bigmack]

10. Doesn't make any difference....

by 2023 our subs will be rusting at the docks like the Soviet subs did.

Our bases - 44 of them - in Germany will be closed...along with the 90 in Japan and Okinawa.

I dunno what we're going to do with the people in the military, but we won't be able to afford to keep them on.

Iraq and Vietghanistan... gone.... Just like India and Malaya got gone from the British Empire.

Our time is up.

[Golden Raisin]

12. Yeah. And I'd like diamonds,

rubies and emeralds to fall from the sky so I could collect them. That ain't gonna happen either.

[L0oniX]

13. You should have looked ...they are coming out of his ass.

[joeunderdog]

14. That's like one tank, right?

And he's got 12 years to do it.

We'll sure be on easy street then.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

15. If he really wanted to cut "defense" spending...

http://costofwar.com/en/

[TCJ70]

16. We should be cutting our national offense...nt