Big on a normal scale, even on the normal federal government scale, but small compared to problem that the program will be taking on.
Hell, everyone talks about the terrorists setting off a nuc in an American city, they don't have to do that, they can just keep causing trouble around the world and sucking us in, perhaps in the long run causing us to run up so much additional debt that the markets will do the job for them...
Defense, including the supplementals for the war(s), is at an historically low level compared to our economy, or as a percentage of federal spending. Its up a bit in recent years, but its a tiny fraction of the type of money that would be a severely damaging burden for our country.
Social and/or transfer programs account for the majority of US federal government's spending, and that share is growing. If any category of federal spending is going to cause a crisis, or a long term serious problem, its that category. |
