Should U.S. bolster its defense budget?

[unhappycamper]

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/sep/24/howard-mckeon-sdmac-defense-budget-isis-spending/



Should U.S. bolster its defense budget?
Jeanette Steele
8:35 a.m.Sept. 24, 2014

The expanded U.S. military campaign against the jihadist group Islamic State gives a new incentive to protect America’s defense budget — even in a time of tightened purse strings, one of the country’s most powerful voices on the issue said Tuesday in Point Loma.

Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, was the keynote speaker at a luncheon to release the San Diego Military Advisory Council’s annual report on the economic value of the region’s military and defense sectors.

Amid sustained debate about sequestration cuts and other ways to shrink the federal budget, he said continuing curtailment of defense spending would be “like running into a brick wall.”

McKeon cited a variety of U.S. security challenges around the world. “Dealing with so much so fast is like trying to catch ball bearings with a garden rake,” he said. “Our best defense against all of the bedlam out there is a strong military.”

..

When the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.



You assholes already 'own' 57% of the discretionary budget!!!

[Scuba]

1. If we can't afford to educate our children, to heal our sick or care for our elderly ...

... just what is it the defense budget is defending?

[Downwinder]

5. The best defense is an educated healthy citizenry.

[antiquie]

2. They have more than they can spend, now.

Otherwise, why would they give equipment and grants to police and sheriffs?

[djean111]

4. So they can spend money on new stuff.

Like giving all your clothes away to charity, getting a nice tax deduction, and then going shopping at Nieman Marcus and replacing it ALL. On the public's credit card, of course.

[djean111]

3. That pie chart is shameful. And, if seen by EVERYONE, might be horrifically illuminating.

Should be broadcasted in Times Square, on TV, on the cover of every magazine, used as campaign material. Oh, wait, most of our government thinks this is a quite swell way to spend our money, isn't it. They look for ways to steal from all the tiny slices in order to feed the gigantic greedy one - trying to figure out which cuts will result in more or less votes.

And that's ALL this comes down to - votes and lining pockets. Looks to me like, once elected, what those sad little slices actually mean in terms of real people is completely lost, to most politicians.