Here's an idea: Let's earmark all the taxes from the rich for defense spending.

[soupkitchen]

The lower classes already pay for war with their blood and guts. Why not have the top tax rate pay all the financial costs of wars?

Again, progressive tax rates and all that, but the top rate has to raise enough money to cover all of the Defense Budget. Defense Budget under control, maybe the tax rate remains 35%; have wars that need to be paid for and perhaps the top tax rate returns to 90%.

Earmark the money and when the rich object to tax hikes, they're objecting to supporting the troops. As well maybe they should; maybe such a tax policy would lead to more reasoned use of American force. Of course, those who object to having their money spent on war would be allowed to have their taxes earmarked for the general budget. This would end up raising the tax rate on the wealthy by that much more, a rate which the dissenters would still have to pay, but it would insure that our wars are paid for by those who not only see the need for war, but are willing to dedicate as much of their treasure as patriotism demands to such wars.

Another way of saying this is: whenever possible wars should be paid for by otherwise disposable income. Or do the rich really think their excess income should be considered less disposable than a soldier's life?

[yella_dawg]

1. Better idea.

Quit using the military to support commercial interests worldwide.

[HereSince1628]

2. And it's 1,2,3 WHAT WERE WE FIGHT'N FOR??????????

Anything that was being defended from Korea to Afghanistan seems to have been sold or off-shored to Asia.

Is this some sort of VERY CLEVER strategery? To place our assets INSIDE foreign territory so as to diminish any interest an enemy could have to attack us???????????????????????????????????????????

[Igel]

3. That may already be just about the case.

Define rich as >$250k adjusted gross income for a family (>$125k for singles) and the following holds (if it's true, and it sounds about right):

"Joint returns with more than $250,000 adjusted gross income and single returns with more than $125,000 adjusted gross income together are estimated to make up 3.1 percent of households next year. That group is projected to earn 27 percent of all personal income and pay 47.9 percent of all personal federal income taxes in 2009, according to the TPC's calculations."
http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/what_percentage_of_the_us_population_makes.html

http://www.warresisters.org/pages/piechart.htm is not unreasonable, since there are so many ways of calculating how much goes to "defense spending."