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US Senate approves $700B discretionary spending for military, def totals 15% budget
- Thread starter Lime
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Headed for that Starship Troopers reality where you'll have to serve in order to become a citizen with full rights
michaelius
Banned
So I'm curious about giving more planes and ships than Trump requested - did senate decide he is Russian spy so anything he wants is decided to be too weak or what? 
If it meant pumping money into NASA to create starships and increase space exploration I might be down for that.
Huw_Dawson
Member
This is corruption, plain and simple.
I know it'll never happen but wish some of that money would be spent on mental health services for veterans. The amount of young men and women that live with mental illness after they come back from war zones is crazy and the numbers that take their own lives is unacceptable for a country that puts their service men and women on pedestal to sell the hero fantasy but abandons them once they are broken.
Nah, when it's this big the euphemism is 'military-industrial' complex.
What if I was to tell you being liberal doesn't mean you're anti-military.
Spectral Glider
Member
Not to mention a military who's recent results are suspect at best.
CyclopsRock
Member
I'm pretty sure it is.
jono51
Banned
Dangerous question. Try not to shoot yourself in the back 3 times.
SillyEskimo
Member
With all that money you would think we could build ships and train men not to run into things.
What they currently spend on veteran mental health is not enough. Even going up slightly it won't help. They need to really go in there and fund it properly because of my original post.
Most militaries don't do well when they essentially sit around on the streets, waiting to be attacked. The results when you actually put the U.S. into pitched battles are overwhelmingly impressive. That's due to well maintained, top of the line equipment but also training. U.S. soldiers drill and train quite a bit more than their counterparts in other nations. So much so that the U.S. often hosts "joint" training where they pay for everything when training with other NATO members.
The problem isn't buying too much per se, it's spending on the wrong things and often throwing money at programs that never go anywhere or even bear fruit. Sometimes the problem is not buying enough of something that's cost effective to drive down the price even more.
USA government is such a joke, it's fucking hilarious get free fucking college and monthly paid healthcare already. Cut that fucking ridiculous millitary budget by alot and spend it on education and healthcare and other thing that benefit the US more.
700billion... Lmao? Is USA still hugely in debt btw? Last time i remember they were very deep in the red debt wise (like trillions).
700billion... Lmao? Is USA still hugely in debt btw? Last time i remember they were very deep in the red debt wise (like trillions).
Lightning_Roller
Banned
This is disgraceful.
DasPenguin
Member
You don't have to be anti-military. Some common sense would be enough.
Can't fix the school system, can't get healthcare, but if you want to bomb someone we can do that!
Monocle
Member
This pie chart looks wildly imbalanced. We need to pump even more money into the military to complete the Pac-Man!And here's the 2017 discretionary spending budget before this particular policy bill was voted on:
His jaws are stretched too wide. He hungers.
Well it looks like Warren is out. Judging by that list, the only Democrats being considered for 2020 that are eligible are Gillibrand and Sanders, and Gillibrand is a senator from New York whose constituency is Wall Street! It looks like Bernie is once again the only winner of the Purity Test.
What if I told you that voting no for this bill doesn't make you anti-military?
Always-honest
Banned
Orrr, 500 billion and 100 billion into education and 100 billion into healthcare. Just as an alternative?
Education (for all) should be nr1 in the USA right now imo.
Education (for all) should be nr1 in the USA right now imo.
llien
Banned
Pie chart is quite misleading, intentionally hiding stuff such as "Social Security":
I think it actually is, although, in a different context.
US spends more on healthcare (per citizen) that any other country in the world.
Including countries in which healthcare is universal (which is, like, cough, nearly all of the Western countries)
US needs to bring down the insane lawyer and healthcare cost for universal healthcare to become viable, in my humble opinion, but for that the likes of Sanders must become more popular.
I think it actually is, although, in a different context.
US spends more on healthcare (per citizen) that any other country in the world.
Including countries in which healthcare is universal (which is, like, cough, nearly all of the Western countries)
US needs to bring down the insane lawyer and healthcare cost for universal healthcare to become viable, in my humble opinion, but for that the likes of Sanders must become more popular.
MarkMclovin
Member
Is it shocking to have Veterans Benefits over Education?
I agree in principle, but it's not as simple as pumping more money into a broken system. It tends to have an inflationary effect on the cost of tuition and the like. The entire system needs to be reworked. Same with healthcare.
Sidewinder
Member
Can't wait for the next full scale war to use all of that military power, wouldn't want that money go to waste or the weaponry/soldiers get rusty.
We all know how much Trump would love to push that button a couple of times.
We all know how much Trump would love to push that button a couple of times.
Adam Sadler
Member
Wow smh
ClosingADoor
Member
This is only discretionary spending, not the total budget. For example, you see social security here at $31 billion. But the federal budget already has $910 billion for that. And then you got some more from the states I imagine?
Discretionary spending is about 1/3 of the total budget and goes mostly towards the military.
Larogue
Member
Yes. And I have served.
Not shocking, just wrong.
D
Deleted member 231381
Unconfirmed Member
Anyone who voted for this should not be even remotely considered as a potential Democratic nominee.
ReplacementPelican
Member
Yeah, I noticed that as well.
So, you spend a ridiculous amount on healthcare, somehow, but who does this benefit? Who does the money go to?
OfficerRaichu15
Member
See my senator Corker voting nay to this. Good good. Now the rest of them....
PeskyToaster
Member
I'm pretty sure that same discretionary spending graph has been posted before and it was also corrected before because people assume that it's the total budget when, in fact, the total budget would show the exact opposite of the assumption that posting the discretionary budget is trying to trigger. Because spending on programs like Social Security and Health is much larger than the military.
RoninChaos
Member
If you want to know someone's priorities then look at their budget. It's obvious our elected officials think the military is a priority over health care and education no matter what they say.
It should be noted that the actual DOD budget is $574.5 billion. Overall defense related spending is $824.6 billion, but that includes Veteran Affairs, Homeland Security and costs of overseas wars in Iraq, Syria, etc.
Also that pie-chart shown on page 1 is a bit misleading, that only shows discretionary spending, i.e, spending that the Gov has control over. Most spending is mandatory in the form of Social Security and Health.
As you can see defense is actually 15% of total federal spending. Social security, at $1 billion is the biggest part of the budget.
The US though probably could do with cutting back on defense spending while still maintaining its status of No.1 military superpower, simply through cutting back on overseas wars.
Ether_Snake
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Paging Harry S Truman.
It's like a coup happened in the US and no one noticed, decades ago.
It's like a coup happened in the US and no one noticed, decades ago.
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