Reduce military spending by 67% and the US will still be safe, probably safer as we will make less enemies. Military spending is another reason for the falling dollar.
So what are you proposing.. re-instituting the draft?
Because you can't slash military spending by that much without downsizing the active force fully by fifty percent. And that would put force structure to levels that last occurred in the 1930's.
60% of the entire DOD budget goes to operations and support, which includes personnel salaries.
The Pentagon has come under growing pressure from Congress and the general public to manage resources more effectively and reduce overhead. Today, some 60 percent of the DoD's annual obligation authority is spent on so-called support infrastructure--activities and facilities that are not directly part of DoD's core mission but that help accomplish that mission--with half that portion going toward personnel expenses.
rand.org
In his prepared remarks, Harrison noted that “over 60 percent of the base defense budget is used for operations and support (O&S) activities, such as recruiting and training for the active duty military, guard, and reserve, supporting the DoD civilian workforce, and funding the peacetime operations and maintenance of equipment.” Combine those with health care costs and a benefits package that has done nothing but grow for the last decade and there is little room to slash spending without weakening the strategic reach of the United States.
dodbuzz.com
Do I think there isn't waste and fraud within DOD? No. It's a government agency, and therefore, no different from most other Federal agencies.
Do I think we have too many officers and not enough soldiers in the force structure? YOU BET!! Just work in the Pentagon sometime and you'll see the ratio of "chiefs" to "indians" is ridiculous. Full Bird Colonels carrying General's briefcases. Officers playing as "Powerpoint Rangers" spending their days making charts of this or that program.
The average salary of an 06 Colonel could cover the costs of 2-3 enlisted personnel, providing us the means of having more "boots on the ground".
And there's no doubt that there's a lot of overhang with the civilian support sector, which is why I advocate the use of contractors as temporary support. It saves money and prevents temporary support budgets for various programs/projects from becoming permanent.
Again.. in the 1950's the DOD budget was 70% of the total Federal Budget, whereas it constitutes 21% today.
Whatever has bloated Federal Spending, it certainly has NOT been the Military budget, which has ALREADY been reduced 60% since the 1950's.
But does that mean there isn't more room for cutting "fat" in the DOD budget? No.
But the real waste and fraud is in the Federal Entitlement budgets. This is where most of the real, and percentage, growth has occurred in the Federal Budget.
But hey.. we'll leave it up to you and replace the military with a bunch of old ladies and boy scouts carrying wooden guns and sling-shots.
Or maybe the government can implement a "windfall profits" tax on financial advisors and hedge fund managers since you all benefit from the security and freedom defended by those people in uniform?
Yeah.. maybe hiking taxes for Financial Managers, like yourself, by 60% might be part of the answer... ;0)
Hawk |
