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Politics : View from the Center and Left
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To: KyrosL who wrote (48027)2/5/2008 3:25:35 PM
From: TimF  Read Replies (2) of 541284
 
We spend around 4% and we used to spend in the teens. Defense is becoming a smaller and smaller part of our economy. Sure its still expensive, and sure it would be nice if other countries would pay for some of the cost (either directly assuming the burden, or paying us part of our costs), but I don't think that's very realistic.

It isn't the only way the rest of the world free rides off the US, another good example is the fact that the R&D money for new patented prescription drugs largely comes from American consumers.

The way I see it, we subsidize oil to the tune of $300 billion a year (the extra 2% of GDP we are spending).

If some place in central Alaska (or in Canada or Mexico where we wouldn't have to project power, if any, to protect the supplies) we found a new oil field that had as much oil as the entire middle east we wouldn't cut our defense budget in half, perhaps not by a penny.

Also keeping the peace and keeping trade open isn't a subsidy.

A $2 to $3 a gallon of gasoline tax should pay for it, if we insist on providing the world with this free service.

If your issue is the free riding off the US military, charging US consumers wouldn't reduce the free riding. We would have to tax other countries, and I'm not so sure they would agree to that.
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