The US is flat broke yet the Pentagon Budget goes up, up and up...

[Postman]

When will the American people get it that the globe spanning occupation is killing them at home?

You want a job that pays a living wage, healthcare, a secure retirement? Sorry, Charlie that money is needed for the occupation of the latest threat du jour as conjured up by the Military Industrial Complex...

This country is eating itself alive. The Pentagon monster will continue to devour the resources of this country even as its own people go starving in the streets. At what point does it become not worth defending?

At what point does the Pentagon budget lose its untouchable status and start taking the cuts it should be taking?

[CreekDog]

1. how much did it rise?

Obama took the wars from off-budget to on-budget and that makes the budget look like it's going up substantially, but military spending is not going up drastically, it's just becoming more transparent.

[indepat]

4. This nation, with 5% of the world's population, accounts for 50% of the world's spending on

defense: the good news is others have been loaning us that 50%, so just think how strong this nation will be in ten years in our standard of living, delivery of health care, and all the other things that makes this the greatest place in the world to live. Or is that yet another 'puke lie in this 'puke world we have chosen to live in? :P

[CreekDog]

7. didn't answer my question

thanks anyway.

[Postman]

20. 600 Billion Dollars per year is way more than we need or can afford.

Start cutting this ridiculous waste of money

[Prophet 451]

19. 5.7%

That's according to Wiki and doesn't include $23.4 billion to the Dept of Energy to develop and maintain nuclear warheads (what the F is that doing under the DoE?).

[Double T]

2. voodoo economics continues regardless of which political party is in charge.

The Pentagon won't have a budget when our country is bankrupt because the communist chinese won't support our habits anymore.

[GreenTea]

3. Miltiary, weapons makers, republicans & corporations want to keep the US as the world's policeman...

Very profitable....How many fucking countries around the world are we based in 70, 80 or more?

Waste of our tax dollars....

[Supersedeas]

18. the military and big creditors....same story since 1783...and Newburgh

[cboy4]

5. I'm in favor of maintaining the US's superpower status, which

means spending money on the military.

It's not cheap, but this is one program I don't mind paying for.

[Kolesar]

6. .

:puke:

[cboy4]

9. Yea, I know I'm in the minority at DU, but there's a way to

be a responsible super power.

I side with President Obama.

[Fire1]

8. China is gaining fast!

[cboy4]

10. All the more reason to fund the F-22 fighter program.

[ChimpersMcSmirkers]

15. BS. The F-22 is probably the most overpriced aircraft ever. It a close race with the

B-2, however. The F-22 costs at least $140 million a copy. It's probably closer to $200 million. The F-15 it's replacing costs $40 million each. We will only be able to afford ~200 F-22s. We bought ~700 Eagles and that was still only about about half of what the F-22 program will cost. The Air Force is our number one military money waster.

The Navy which has the same air superiority goal decided that a lowly F-18 upgrade is up to the job of replacing the F-14. The super hornet cost $55 million each.

The good news is that Gates has stated that we have enough F-22s.

While the Air Force wants more F-22s, Defense Secretary Robert Gates wants to keep the number of F-22s at 183, because the F-22 "has not performed a single mission in either theater" (Afghanistan and Iraq).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-22_Raptor

You boys need to stop whacking off to the Lockheed/History/Military channel. :patriot:

[cboy4]

17. Well first of all, the Super Hornet is certainly not lowly.....second

of all, the F-15 doesn't offer the stealth air superiority capabilities we need.

The Eagle did it's job, but it's outdated.

But hey, if they wanna keep the number of F-22's at nearly 200, and then start funding the hell out of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, that's fine with me.

As long as we own the skies.

[Postman]

21. WTF does "superpower status" mean when you can't feed your family at home?

And the country is insolvent borrowing money from CHINA to pay its bills. Who's the "superpower"?

You're one of the problems.

[Urban Prairie]

11. Like a lion defending a dying bloody carcass from the terrorist hyenas.

While the commie vultures and global corporate capitalist rats eat away at it.

[MisterP]

16. who's the carcass, us? did the lion attack us? who're the commies? are they going to eat us?

will Nicaragua invade Harlingen?

[Mithreal]

12. When China owns US completely. eom

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

13. It makes one wonder what it is that they're "defending".

Other than their bank accounts that the politicians eagerly keep filling.

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

14. Hmmm. I thought it was going UP to care for troops and DOWN for profiteers.

We will have to check that out, HUH!!!!