Before 2002 non defense spending went up for years, no really decades at a much faster rate then defense spending.
I don't care. Our defense budget is too high. No one in their right mind would say otherwise. For a peace loving nation, we sure love our guns!
However, if you look closely and take out the Mandatory budget items including Medicare, Medicaid and SS which are forced to go up due to the aging population
IMO such spending should not be taken out of the equation. It is non defense spending, and in fact includes the biggest non defense spending categories.
Mandatory budget items are not included with Discretionary spending items like defense.
No it didn't, those mandatory items are still non-defense. But then I recognize what you mean, take out all entitlements and over a two year period, when you exclude most non-defense spending, then non-defense spending went down. That might be somewhat unusual but it isn't a disgrace in fact it is a good thing, but not unfortunately something that is likely to last for very long.
Its a disgrace. People are starving in this nation, living on the streets and we are throwing billions at building 'shock and awe' weaponry when there is not one sovereign nation that could go a single round with us. Its beyond disgrace.......its an abomination!
Worse, defense makes up nearly HALF of the discretionary portion of the budget. And you're crying that we are shorting ourselves in terms of defense.
That's only because so much of the budget is not discretionary.
Mandatory is 58%; discretionary 42%.
be my guest but the statement "all non military expenditures have been cut" is simply false.
Maybe a touch but that's all.
No it is very false. "all non military expenditures" have increased just about every year since WWII, including the last two which you (but not I) apparently want to limit the discussion to. Also the projections in the pdf file you link to (thanks for the informative link BTW) show that spending for things other then the defense budget will grow faster then the defense budget to 2008.
Those projections are completely off now that the Iraqi war is soaking up so much more of our revenues.
So non defense spending has grown much faster then defense spending for over a decade, and is projected to continue to grow faster (if no longer much faster) over the next 5 years. What is really out of control and what is really busting the budgets is the entitlement spending.
The projections are off.........what's spoiling the budget is the Iraqi war. The revisions to the budget won't be out until after October.
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