A Little Perspective

[ASUMountaineer]

Why is military spending off the table? Should it be? Our military budget in 2012 was roughly equivalent to the next 15 nations COMBINED spending! Seems there might be some room for cuts.

When you ask 2% of the population to risk their lives in the interest of the 98%, for their safety, for freedom, to trade both at home and overseas, to protect Americans wherever they may be on this globe, they SHOULD be provided with THE VERY BEST, bar NONE. Whatever increases that 2%'s chances of coming home, is worth it. If I must spend $5,000 on body armor for every single one of our Airmen, Sailors, Soldiers and Marines to stop a $5 bullet from a $150 AK-47 POS, then so be it.

A great way to accomplish this would be to not enter unnecessary wars. That would save blood and treasure.

The problem lies in what various people consider necessary wars. If we had not gone into Kuwait in the first gulf war, we would all be up the creek in a screen wire boat.

This seems a bit extreme. I was only 10 at the time, but I don't readily remember the outcry against that war that existed with the second Iraq war. Perhaps there was a strong opposition. What would have guaranteed "we would all be up the creek in a screen wire boat?"

We did not invade a country to topple it with the Persian Gulf war, which I think is a crucial distinction.

[Watauga72]

Why do we need to cut military spending when we can give it away to our enemy.

How many F-16's and what was it 200 tanks plus a little spending cash Obama just gave to the muslim brotherhood? All the money we are just passing out freely to other nations to boot.

Scratching my head

While I agree that we need to closely scrutinize our foreign aid spending (and, in my opinion, remove some of the military components), the aid package was to the state of Eqypt, not the Muslim Brotherhood, and was part of an ongoing aid package begun in 1979 so it was nothing new or unusual. Dates back to Carter's administration and the reconciliation between Israel and Egypt.

[JCline0429]

The problem is that when they have guts enough to put on their "big boy" pants, they don't get re-elected.

[Watauga72]

Clinton had a few things going in his favor that helped balance the budget.
1. The dot.com boom. The economy was booming for most of Clinton's presidency. The bust occurred late in his second term. This boom fueled a strong economy which, in turn, generated higher tax revenues. The bust actually hurt the economy more under Bush Jr.
2. After the first two years in office he realized he had to work with Republicans in congress to accomplish things. He was able to move towards the middle. Read Greenspan's book for details. Greenspan is very complimentary about Clinton's intelligence, ability to grasp details, and willingness to move away from dogmatic postitions. He was far less complimentary to Bush Jr.
3. Aside from Bosnia and Somaila, the US was not heavily involved in active "hot" military situations. Bush Sr. had actually initiated significant cuts in defense spending (which Rumsfeld bragged about at the time) and Clinton's presidency continued some of this, although not at as high a rate as his predecessor.

Anyway, it's great to have positive discussions with others who are concerned about what's going on in the world.

Wish everyone here a happy new year. This will be my last post on this board.

[JCline0429]

Clinton had a few things going in his favor that helped balance the budget.
1. The dot.com boom. The economy was booming for most of Clinton's presidency. The bust occurred late in his second term. This boom fueled a strong economy which, in turn, generated higher tax revenues. The bust actually hurt the economy more under Bush Jr.
2. After the first two years in office he realized he had to work with Republicans in congress to accomplish things. He was able to move towards the middle. Read Greenspan's book for details. Greenspan is very complimentary about Clinton's intelligence, ability to grasp details, and willingness to move away from dogmatic postitions. He was far less complimentary to Bush Jr.
3. Aside from Bosnia and Somaila, the US was not heavily involved in active "hot" military situations. Bush Sr. had actually initiated significant cuts in defense spending (which Rumsfeld bragged about at the time) and Clinton's presidency continued some of this, although not at as high a rate as his predecessor.

Anyway, it's great to have positive discussions with others who are concerned about what's going on in the world.

Wish everyone here a happy new year. This will be my last post on this board.

Board or folder? I once said I wasn't going to post anymore unless I changed my mind. Well, I changed my mind because of my addiction to this forum.

[Watauga72]

Clinton had a few things going in his favor that helped balance the budget.
1. The dot.com boom. The economy was booming for most of Clinton's presidency. The bust occurred late in his second term. This boom fueled a strong economy which, in turn, generated higher tax revenues. The bust actually hurt the economy more under Bush Jr.
2. After the first two years in office he realized he had to work with Republicans in congress to accomplish things. He was able to move towards the middle. Read Greenspan's book for details. Greenspan is very complimentary about Clinton's intelligence, ability to grasp details, and willingness to move away from dogmatic postitions. He was far less complimentary to Bush Jr.
3. Aside from Bosnia and Somaila, the US was not heavily involved in active "hot" military situations. Bush Sr. had actually initiated significant cuts in defense spending (which Rumsfeld bragged about at the time) and Clinton's presidency continued some of this, although not at as high a rate as his predecessor.

Anyway, it's great to have positive discussions with others who are concerned about what's going on in the world.

Wish everyone here a happy new year. This will be my last post on this board.

Board or folder? I once said I wasn't going to post anymore unless I changed my mind. Well, I changed my mind because of my addiction to this forum.

Oops...my bad. Meant folder. You know how us old people are, can't get any of this new terminology correct!

[AppGrad78]

Clinton had a few things going in his favor that helped balance the budget.
1. The dot.com boom. The economy was booming for most of Clinton's presidency. The bust occurred late in his second term. This boom fueled a strong economy which, in turn, generated higher tax revenues. The bust actually hurt the economy more under Bush Jr.
2. After the first two years in office he realized he had to work with Republicans in congress to accomplish things. He was able to move towards the middle. Read Greenspan's book for details. Greenspan is very complimentary about Clinton's intelligence, ability to grasp details, and willingness to move away from dogmatic postitions. He was far less complimentary to Bush Jr.
3. Aside from Bosnia and Somaila, the US was not heavily involved in active "hot" military situations. Bush Sr. had actually initiated significant cuts in defense spending (which Rumsfeld bragged about at the time) and Clinton's presidency continued some of this, although not at as high a rate as his predecessor.

Anyway, it's great to have positive discussions with others who are concerned about what's going on in the world.

Wish everyone here a happy new year. This will be my last post on this board.

Board or folder? I once said I wasn't going to post anymore unless I changed my mind. Well, I changed my mind because of my addiction to this forum.

Oops...my bad. Meant folder. You know how us old people are, can't get any of this new terminology correct!

That's good news. I was enjoying reading your perspectives on things.