US committed to record defense spending at 750 billion

"Just imagine if all the major countries came together and all of them agreed to cut their defense budgets a substantial percentage what that could mean for the human race when that money could be spent on human needs"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!!!!! Like that's what they would do with the money.......LMAO!!

originally posted by: SituationNAFU
"Just imagine if all the major countries came together and all of them agreed to cut their defense budgets a substantial percentage what that could mean for the human race when that money could be spent on human needs"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!!!!! Like that's what they would do with the money.......LMAO!!

I love these "just imagine if". Okay, I'll imagine. But until that becomes a reality, I think we should keep making policy based on the real world and not some future utopia that doesn't exist. Call me crazy.

a reply to: Willtell


New weapon platforms are not cheap, and we have many platforms that are 30+ years of age in the USAF... the question that should be asked is where did all that money go, cause it barely makes it to the field.

a reply to: Irishhaf

What money?

Are you saying they have some money they don't have

a reply to: Willtell

All that money that is not directly accounted for is what I am referring to.


A great deal of money has funneled through DoD on various programs that never ever made it to the boots on the ground.

originally posted by: Irishhaf
a reply to: Willtell

All that money that is not directly accounted for is what I am referring to.


A great deal of money has funneled through DoD on various programs that never ever made it to the boots on the ground.

That's kind of the nature of advances in technology. People have ideas, you have to research them to find out if they're feasible. When they spend a bunch of money on R&D into some new idea for a weapon and it turns out it doesn't work, of course they don't field that weapon.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying there's no waste in defense, but that doesn't mean that every dollar that doesn't go towards something that winds up in the field is wasted.

a reply to: face23785


Systems that make it into the field, I have no issue with I have issues with the ones that are politically motivated that we pay hundreds of millions into over the course of years of "testing" that never actually improve their capabilities despite all the money we piss into it.

a reply to: midicon
Some landlords require direct debit. We pay with cash. Switch your insurance provider. You clearly have no grasp of the numbers if you believe that every human stopping the generation of trillions per year would have zero effect.

Of course the financial sector would carry on, but you would see our defense budget begin to shrink in the process. The thing is, people like yourself are always going to rationalize in your mind why it's Soo much easier, and hip, to pay for things by tapping, swiping or pressi g a button on a web page. Your the kind of person who will have children that will say "it's impossible to pay for anything without scanning our eyeballs or using our fingerprints".

Try branded gift cards, they are not subject to the same micro fees that something attached to a financial institute would. See, go buy a Netflix gift card with cash, and use it to pay your monthly bill. See, not impossible to pay with cash. You just happen to be too used to instant gratification that requires electronic payment.

I cannot think of a single product or service that cannot be paid cash. If you bothered to do a little research and make. Little effort, than you would not be a global warfare supporting hypocrite and would actually be removing a source of funding for something you claim to abhor.

Or maybe you enjoy your Global warfare??? I find countless of hours of learning and entertainment from the videos of it myself. I just don't pretend to hate it while continuing to fund it out of convenience?? Or perhaps you were not aware at just how much money was generated through the micro fees??

Wyy else do you think th Eastern axis is conditioning their societies to store real wealth in precious metal as well as cash?? The are trying to crash our system because they know they will never be able to outspend us as long as we gleefully and through free will choose convenience and ignorance with our payments, most being oblivious to how much money they are helping to generate.

The USA will never run out of money as long as our society continues to spend electronically as well as consume illicit imported drugs.

a reply to: worldstarcountry

That's a load of tosh and pie in the sky. Here in Glasgow if you want a landlord that accepts cash the word slum springs to mind. I have a car but have to shop online for the cheapest insurance deal...and I need the car unfortunately.
Even if I somehow managed to just use cash it would not make a blind bit of difference to anything. The idea that everyone should stop electronic paying for goods and services is a complete non starter, get real lol...
Perhaps you should wind yourself in and suggest something that at least is viable. The best real solution is for our respective governments to stop waging war. A political solution is what is called for...of course for that to happen we have to change the politicians or political system. As for whiny....go look in the mirror fool.

a reply to: Willtell

I heard an interesting discussion on a radio one day during which the point was made that the US seems to be going the same way as the Roman empire.

Due to their military becoming so big, it sent the country broke.

Apart from the jobs created during the design and creation of military hardware, money spent on the military, is a total loss because there is no further increase in productive capacity.

originally posted by: Irishhaf
a reply to: face23785


Systems that make it into the field, I have no issue with I have issues with the ones that are politically motivated that we pay hundreds of millions into over the course of years of "testing" that never actually improve their capabilities despite all the money we piss into it.

Of course there's politics involved. Look at the BRAC process. That always boils down to politics rather than which bases really need to be closed. If you have any ideas on how to get Congress to stop playing politics, I'm all ears.

originally posted by: Azureblue
a reply to: Willtell

I heard an interesting discussion on a radio one day during which the point was made that the US seems to be going the same way as the Roman empire.

Due to their military becoming so big, it sent the country broke.

Apart from the jobs created during the design and creation of military hardware, money spent on the military, is a total loss because there is no further increase in productive capacity.

That's interesting but that's not what's happening here. Our debt is largely being driven by domestic spending and social programs. The military budget only takes up 15-20%, depending on the year. Even with drastic cuts to the military, you could maybe back it down to 10%, and it still wouldn't help the deficit and the debt.

a reply to: face23785


Yea I just cant ever forget a particular guided weapon on the Buff, during my 6 years on it we never got a better hit ratio than 1 out of 3. 1.25 million per missile, and 250k a year per missile software upgrade each year, after bugging the crud out of our weapons people they told us it was Israeli and nobody ever expects it to actually be deployed full time.


what a god awful waste of money, but to be honest the hard part will be figuring out which sucks and which are just being used in the wrong way. Vaguely remember an Army vehicle that was considered a huge waste of money till it went into Fallujah and it ended up being a huge lifesaver in urban combat.

originally posted by: Irishhaf
a reply to: face23785


Yea I just cant ever forget a particular guided weapon on the Buff, during my 6 years on it we never got a better hit ratio than 1 out of 3. 1.25 million per missile, and 250k a year per missile software upgrade each year, after bugging the crud out of our weapons people they told us it was Israeli and nobody ever expects it to actually be deployed full time.


what a god awful waste of money, but to be honest the hard part will be figuring out which sucks and which are just being used in the wrong way. Vaguely remember an Army vehicle that was considered a huge waste of money till it went into Fallujah and it ended up being a huge lifesaver in urban combat.

Yeah it's weird how that stuff works. Some of the weapons systems developed in the 80s were scoffed at until they went into action in Desert Storm and performed up to or even exceeding expectations. Then other things that people think will be badass turn out to be junk. Development is just so complicated and riddled with bureaucracy and corruption, it's almost become a crapshoot these days. There's a lot of cronyism too. Some retired general will go to work for x company and still knows people in the Pentagon so x gets the contract for y system, regardless of whether they're the best vendor for it or not.

a reply to: face23785

God yes... for once I wish congress would nut up and make it illegal for former generals to work in any capacity with companies that are trying to land govt contracts.


Or something like that, who knows how many bad deals got made so a guy getting ready to retire can step into a 6+ figure a year consulting gig that only requires he show up once a quarter.

That's a lot of people sucking on ol' Uncle Sam's teat.

originally posted by: jacobe001

originally posted by: watchitburn
a reply to: Willtell

Defense spending as a % of GDP. The US is at 3.6%

1 Oman 12.1
2 Saudi Arabia 10.3
3 Congo 6.2
4 Kuwait 5.8
5 Algeria 5.7
6 Jordan 4.8
7 Israel 4.7
8 Lebanon 4.5
9 Russia 4.3
10 Bahrain 4.1
11 Armenia 4.0
12 Azerbaijan 3.9
12 Iraq 3.9
14 Pakistan 3.5
15 Namibia 3.4
15 Ukraine 3.4

Wiki

While I agree that our military is way bigger than it needs to be, and we can definitely spend our money more efficiently, compared to the rest of the world we're not that bad. I think population size and geographical size of a nation should also factor in.

Also don't forget that we carry the largest burden in defending Europe. And weren't you crying about Trump calling out NATO and the UN for not pulling their own weight just a few months ago?

The problem is our military is being used to protect and support globalist ambitions, not to support and defend our country.

Exactly, that is amusingly ironic, on the one hand people complain about the globalists furthering their ambitions, removing individual rights and wanting open borders, then complaining not enough is being spent on the military. I guess that is in part showing the poor state of education.

originally posted by: Irishhaf
a reply to: face23785

God yes... for once I wish congress would nut up and make it illegal for former generals to work in any capacity with companies that are trying to land govt contracts.


Or something like that, who knows how many bad deals got made so a guy getting ready to retire can step into a 6+ figure a year consulting gig that only requires he show up once a quarter.

That's a double-edged sword though, because often these retired generals are the best people for such jobs. Without their expertise, we wouldn't have the best equipment. I'm not proposing we just let that go unchecked. There has to be some middle ground between not allowing them to continue to contribute and the cesspool of corruption we have now.

a reply to: face23785

Late reply but after desert storm Iraq was weakened big time.

Iraq bad because they invaded, US invading = good and right, right?

They could have done an invasion there already easily after desert storm. Back then they where wise enough not doing that because well.. just using Dick words:



Yet Dick supported the war after, even he knew it just meant ''hell breaks loose''. It for sure did so after.

And all that spending on those wars costed trillions (&still growing)! Money well spend, yet they (the people) get upset about social programs & the ''left'' and put the blame all there. LOL. Ever since right after 9-11 & the actions the US made after you must have been really poor sighted or completely blind not seeing right there the US went in a full blown downward spiral without a change of recovery.

a reply to: midicon
I am as real as your going to meet. I did say, that as long as our defense budget keeps growing, I know its all good because people keep paying electronic

It is disheartening to hear of your inability to combat the system with your choices. I don't hand my landlord cash, I take the cash to their bank with a deposit slip

See if they will allow you a deposit slip and take it to their bank.

Because a true rebel always has to resist, none matter how insignificantly small and irrelevant such resistance could be.