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Politics : Libertarian Discussion Forum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TimF who wrote (7728)	3/31/2009 6:01:00 PM
From: Doren	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 13062

Certainly there are military related costs that aren't in either the military budget or the supplemental budgets, but the increase from including them would be modest, not a vast increase. We disagree. I go with the Eisenhower model. Our military budget is offensive in more than one way. The VA costs are FAR less then the military budget For every 12 soldiers who died from their wounds in Vietnam 11 now survive due to better medical care. Many are victims of IEDs and will require intense care and financial support for the rest of their lives. That's a vast uncalculated burden. Only in the sense that we provide a security guarantee to Saudi against invasion. Nope. Internal dissent too. I with you on being against corporate subsidies, but at least until the recent bailouts subsidies, though expensive, where a small part of our budget. I think people very much underestimate the subsidies. I'll give you two examples: In California farmers pay 10% on the dollar for water, compared to consumers. This has led to over watering. The excess water leaches pesticides into the underground aquifer and eventually down to the lowest part of the Central Valley: Kesterson which because of the chemicals is now an environmental disaster. Years ago taxpayers picked up the costs of a Space Shuttle mission repairing an ITT communications satellite. Most Americans are bamboozled when it comes to NASA missions. The cost: 400 million. Few notice these kinds of things. And there are tons. Everyone supports pork in their own district. I am actually in favor of some subsidies. Actually one. I'm in favor of government grants to college research departments. These grants typically give the government some return on the investment by way of partial rights to patent profits.