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24 January 2013
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Comments
In all seriousness though, the US spent something like $680 billion on the military in 2011. That's more than the GDP (well, GSP) of Florida, the fourth biggest state (by economy) in the union, or about 20% of the federal budget. It seems indefensible to me that any government serious about shrinking the size of the country's debt (and the size of government in general) wouldn't at least look at controlling military expenditures.
Sorry Mike, I don't really see a huge issue with this. Unfortunately, these cuts will not even make a dent in our expenditures as it does not address the absurd amount of money being allocated to our current entanglements over seas.
I say make real cuts and bring our troops home. This will allow us to focus more on defense rather than occupation and regime change.
Spending by our federal government must re-evaluated and military spending should not be omiited from the chopping block.
But these overseas entanglements are an order of magnitude less than the only place we can "make real cuts" -- in the trillions we take from those that work for it in order to give it to those that don't.
Unfortunately, the number of categories which fit that description has expanded in recent years.
Of course you will have paid into that system all your life by the time you retire. But that's exactly the point - those trillions of dollars are, for the most part, going to people just like you and me, not to some welfare queens that never really existed in the first place.
The money for Social Security comes primarily from payroll taxes and interest. It is separate from other revenue sources in the government, and hasn't been "raided" for money and never will be.
The problem faced by the fund is demographic. To date more money has been put into social security than taken out but at a point in the near future more will be taken out than put in because of all the retiring baby boomers. People are living longer and a smaller portion of the population is working age. As a result, in order to keep social security solvent the government will eventually have to make changes, like raising retirement age or payroll taxes.
I'm not saying there isn't waste in the government - there obviously is, including (and perhaps especially) in the military. But that's only indirectly linked to social security, which is itself fairly efficient: collect money from people when they're young and working, give it back to them when they're old and retired.
The fact of the matter is that it is not that "a smaller portion of the population is working age" but rather that a smaller portion of the population is WILLING to work. Food Stamps and TANF have become a way of life for too many, that it is "owed" to them because they had a child.
Government assistance is not "owed" to any. I can accept Social Security paid to those who have worked their whole lives and paid into the program. Even Social Security Disability to those who have a true disability. However, paying $600+ a month to someone who says they cannot work because they are "too emotional" is irrational and illogical. It must stop.
Lastly, why are we cutting the budget to our military? When we weaken our military we leave ourselves open for invasion and future atrocities. Where the money must truly be cut from is the Congressional and Senate budgets. Being asked to serve as a representative for either Congress or the Senate was a honor not a job, so why are we paying hundreds of thousand of dollars to people who only work for a few months an then go home on vacation for a few months. These same men and women that we pay so much salary to are not working for the good of the people, they are working for their best interest and rarely does that even include their own state!
Don't get me wrong, I think becoming a welfare state is a very real and dangerous trap for a society to fall into, although I think most Americans would still much rather work than rely on welfare. That's besides the point of this discussion, however, because Social Security isn't welfare, it's a pension, and it isn't floundering because of welfare but because of its own issues.
It is imperative that the Congress return/be returned back to "regular order" and start producing budgets, instead of going from crisis to crisis and smoke filled room deals by a cabal of Executive and Legislative Branch VIPs. Unless we have unlimited resources and funds, there will always be risk at a certain threshold. But now it looks like the threshold is dropping even lower due to Presidential and Congressional (Senate) mismanagement or no management at all of the budget process. This appears to be deliberate to cause reaction rather than deliberate well conceived action.
$2.47 Trillion - Total Revenues Fiscal 2012
$2.50 Trillion - Total Non-Discretiona ry spending (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Interest on the debt, etc.)
$0.03 Trillion shortfall
$1.30 Trillion - Total Discretionary spending (Defense/CIA/FB I [$840B), Justice, Education, Commerce, EPA,... all other federal government agencies and programs)
This entire $1.3 Trillion must be borrowed to run the government. If you confiscate 100% of all taxable income from those earning $1M or more it would yield $0.6 Trillion - less than half of the annual shortfall.
The future of the nation rests in the hands of the partisan hacks in Washington who refuse to address the principal issue: entitlements. As the boomers retire the spending in those categories will soar. We are facing an existential battle and the media is talking about Lance Armstrong, fictitious girlfriends of college athletes, lip synching and what fabulous clothes Michelle wore.
Good Lord!
Check out more on this topic at http://patterico.com/2013/01/22/the-budget-numbers-that-people-on-the-left-dont-seem-to-understand/comment-page-4/#comment-1151823 and be sure to watch the embedded video. For an older take on this watch Bill Whittle's video "Eat the Rich" at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=661pi6K-8WQ&list=PLABCC53F051B98328&index=27
(Sorry if this double posted - the original post never appeared)
http://retrophoebia.wordpress.com/2013/01/20/military-funding-and-effects/
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