Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 5:51 am Posts: 17078 Location: TX
It's pretty frightening how much money we spend on "protecting ourself".
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For the 2009 fiscal year, the base budget rose to $515.4 billion. Adding emergency discretionary spending and supplemental spending brings the sum to $651.2 billion.[1] This does not include many military-related items that are outside of the Defense Department budget, such as nuclear weapons research, maintenance and production (about $9.3 billion, which is in the Department of Energy budget), Veterans Affairs (about $33.2 billion), interest on debt incurred in past wars, or the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (which are largely funded through extra-budgetary supplements, about $170 billion in 2007). As of 2009, the United States government is spending about $1 trillion annually on defense-related purposes. [2]
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 12:47 am Posts: 46000 Location: Reasonville
Someone has to make up for France spending $0 on defense ...
_________________ No matter how dark the storm gets overhead They say someone's watching from the calm at the edge What about us when we're down here in it? We gotta watch our backs
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 11:54 pm Posts: 12287 Location: Manguetown Gender: Male
The procurement system of the DoD is really crooked. Companies receive money for endless R&D, instead of delivering real results. The F-22 was a mess, the F-35 is being a even larger mess, the Navy program to build a new destroyer was a massive fail, while many programs that delivered real results were disdained, like the A-10, because it wasnt a super hi-tech plane.
_________________ There's just no mercy in your eyes There ain't no time to set things right And I'm afraid I've lost the fight I'm just a painful reminder Another day you leave behind
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 10:53 pm Posts: 20537 Location: The City Of Trees
I hate the insane amount of defense spending as much as the next guy, but I don't think it's valid to compare it to other countries when the US has bases all over the globe.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 12:47 am Posts: 46000 Location: Reasonville
Green Habit wrote:
I hate the insane amount of defense spending as much as the next guy, but I don't think it's valid to compare it to other countries when the US has bases all over the globe.
Isn't that sort of the point though?
_________________ No matter how dark the storm gets overhead They say someone's watching from the calm at the edge What about us when we're down here in it? We gotta watch our backs
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 12:47 am Posts: 46000 Location: Reasonville
Nick, wouldn't your statement be akin to stating, "I don't think it's valid to compare the U.S. defense budget to other countries' defense budgets because none of those countries have the amount of missiles, tanks, ships and planes the U.S. does"?
_________________ No matter how dark the storm gets overhead They say someone's watching from the calm at the edge What about us when we're down here in it? We gotta watch our backs
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 10:53 pm Posts: 20537 Location: The City Of Trees
corduroy_blazer wrote:
Nick, wouldn't your statement be akin to stating, "I don't think it's valid to compare the U.S. defense budget to other countries' defense budgets because none of those countries have the amount of missiles, tanks, ships and planes the U.S. does"?
Sorry, I misworded that. I meant to say that many other countries enjoy the benefit of the US defense. I wonder how South Korea would feel right now if the US pulled all its troops from the DMZ.
Joined: Sun Feb 26, 2006 3:28 am Posts: 28541 Location: PORTLAND, ME
Green Habit wrote:
corduroy_blazer wrote:
Nick, wouldn't your statement be akin to stating, "I don't think it's valid to compare the U.S. defense budget to other countries' defense budgets because none of those countries have the amount of missiles, tanks, ships and planes the U.S. does"?
Sorry, I misworded that. I meant to say that many other countries enjoy the benefit of the US defense. I wonder how South Korea would feel right now if the US pulled all its troops from the DMZ.
seriously, i agree, we need to maintain our presence in certain parts of the world.
but does keeping troops there really cost that much?
I'm pretty sure its the ridiculous projects that only exist in R&D that make the budget so huge.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 7:38 pm Posts: 3644 Location: Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada Gender: Male
LittleWing wrote:
teflonsteve wrote:
LittleWing wrote:
Somebody has to defend Europe and Canada so they can pay for their universal healthcare programs...
get the fuck off your high horse. Canadians are over in Afghanistan losing lives to assist the USA.
That's fine. But if something ever happened to Canada, who would sacrafice more soldiers? America, or Canada? Nuff said.
We should just annex your land and turn it into one gigantic national park.
Not it's not fine. My fellow citizens dying to assist your country and then being constantly laughed at is disgusting.
I just want to throw this out there - I have no ill will towards the US. I love your country and am coming to visit again next month and can't wait. There really isn't much difference between the citizens of both with the exception of political ideologies and even then are there are large groups in both countries that wish for the other countries policies.
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cutuphalfdead wrote:
I'm not getting stoned with someone who thinks Unthought Known is the best written Pearl Jam song.
You just watch. As soon as we lift our policy of benevolent protection, the evil forces that have been waiting all these decades to invade Canada and Sweden will pounce!
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