How Military Spending Made the U.S Economy Broke »
Posted By Aidenag 5 months, 1 week ago in Business & FinanceThe neoconservatives in the White House and Pentagon failed to address the problem of how to finance their schemes of imperialist wars and global domination. As a result, the United States finds itself in the anomalous position of being unable to pay for its own elevated living standards or its wasteful, overly large military establishment.
Read Full Story at alternet.org »
Submitted By:
Aidenag
Photographer by day, news junkie by night. My main areas of interest are politics and the environment. If you have any questions, problems, or suggestions ...
Also submitted:
Related Articles:
Why not submit a story?
Join the Discussion 
+ Add Comment
Comments So Far: 93
-
0%
gamahuche5 months, 1 week ago
FTA
It is virtually impossible to overstate the profligacy of what our government spends on the military. The Department of Defense's planned expenditures for the fiscal year 2008 are larger than all other nations' military budgets combined. The supplementary budget to pay for the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, not part of the official defense budget, is itself larger than the combined military budgets of Russia and China. Defense-related spending for fiscal 2008 will exceed $1 trillion for the first time in history. The U.S. has become the largest single seller of arms and munitions to other nations on Earth. Leaving out President Bush's two on-going wars, defense spending has doubled since the mid-1990s.
Reply-
-
0%
Mdiar5 months, 1 week ago
Gama, its very possible to get out of. Firstly the United States is spending about twice the world average as a percent of wealth on the military, which isn't intelligent and should be ceased. Its extremely obscene considering this is probably about 4 times what is spent by similarly developed nations. Maybe even more. However, its not inescapable. Also, I did spot some inaccuracies in the article. China's GDP is currently nowhere near the US GDP as of 2006, especially considering the population of China:
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/DATASTATISTI...
As these numbers show Japan as a nation is actually the second wealthiest, not fourth, as well. Are the numbers obscene? Yes, but I have to question the articles facts when it states easily checkable things like this:
"China's 2006 GDP was only slightly smaller than that of the U.S., and Japan was the world's fourth richest nation."
Reply
-
-
0%
Goppy5 months, 1 week ago
So what you are sayin, gama, is that our nations spendin on military has doubled SINCE the fall of our Cold War enemy ... the Commies of the Soviet Union?
Well, how did THAT happen?
What about the PEACE DIVIDEND that Republicans hailed would result from our oft stated Saint Ronnie Reagans single handed victory over them Commies?
We were gointa use all that money to solve all our nations ills.
But instead, it seems as though the Republicans used the fear card to justify throwin ever more money at the military suppliers ... even as they worked overtime cuttin soldiers and veterans benefits.
I sure dont get why soldiers and veterans dont see Republicans for what they are ... bein in the pocket of Military Supplier Companys.
Reply -
0%
sezwho5 months, 1 week ago
If by hand outs you mean government aid to business and industry who continue to lose millions or to farmers not to grow certain crops, than yes we do hand out money like candy but only to the rich and famous. Hand outs to the poor account for very little of government subsidies. The economic quicksand we find ourselves in today will not go away anytime soon. The cost of living our lives in this country will continue to get more expensive as we get less and less in return for our investments. This "recession" we are about to or have entered is our fate. This recession spells not a year or two of economic hardship but the end of a country who thought it would live forever. Last one out has to turn out the lights.
Reply -
0%
ETproductions5 months, 1 week ago
gamahuche wrote: "It is virtually impossible to overstate the profligacy of what our government spends on the military."
We can go on spending like this for ever. All we need to do to accomplish that is make our economy 200% more efficient while paying off $10 trillion in debt and bringing all the off-shored jobs back to the USA yet maintaining all of our globalization trade deals.
Piece of cake.
Reply
-
-
-
-
0%
Spadecaller5 months, 1 week ago
Walden
I agree with you. (Diversification has expanded its scope especially during the last decade.)
Reply
-
-
0%
jordan115 months, 1 week ago
In 2003, bush called for sweeping changes in the Pentagons accountability. Of course, that included less oversight. Does this mean that didn't work out too well? In 2003 nearly one trillion dollars couldn't be accounted for, 56 planes, 32 tanks, and 36 Javelin missiles were lost. Gee, did anyone start investigating the billions in cash sent to Iraq that went missing?
I wonder what the MSM will be talking about today? Some starlet with a tummy pooch?
Reply -
-
0%
jordan115 months, 1 week ago
We are now suffering because we weren't on our toes.>>>>
Millions of us WERE "on our toes." Millions have spent countless of their hours trying to get through to the rest of America, & all we got for it was name calling, people unwilling to look further than a corrupt media, & people abdicating their responsibility to pay attention or even vote! I don't know who I'm angrier at. The thieves, or the knuckleheads whose votes or not voting at all put us in this mess!
Reply-
0%
sezwho5 months, 1 week ago
Jordan11 if it were as simple as trying to find fault with the "thieves" or "knuckleheads" than the fix would be just as simple. The plan matter of fact is that we all have a hand in the demise of America. I'm sure you have credit cards, how much do you owe? Do you have a savings account or other investments to which you contribute more than 10 percent of your take home? What kind of car do you drive? What kind of home do you live in? Do your "must haves" enrich your life or merely make you richer? It's come down to us to quit pointing fingers and finding fault and blame. Who the hell cares if this person or that company do this or that. What's done is done. Now we need to fix it and until we quit blaming we'll never know what to fix. The way I see it is we can either ride it out to the end hoping it'll go away or we can accept our new fate as a second rate country and try to get things right. Mark my words, if we don't we die.
Reply
-
-
0%
Bkumm5 months, 1 week ago
This is an argument to emotion specifically for those on the Left. It will not influence those on the Right.
I agree that the defense spending of the United States is indefensible, but we have to understand that the problem is far deeper than that. The author touches on it briefly, but does not continue his analysis in that vein, but rather concentrates on hammering away at the military, which will convince no-one.
The problem is not defense spending. The problem is a cultural failure to understand that education and other social infrastructures allow for a growing economy which can then support a larger (if necessary) defense industry. That's what Eisenhower was talking about. It also relates to the fact that major corporations are not being held accountable to the social costs of the economy.
So much more to say on this subject than I can write here.
Reply-
0%
Goppy5 months, 1 week ago
You shure got that right.
This issue represents one of the biggest rifts between the left and right.
To us on the right ... a nation is represented by the strength of its military ... by how threatenin we can be to nations we dont liek. And believe me, this presdient dont liek a LOT of nations!
To you libbies ... a nations strength seems to be represented by how a nation works WITHIN its borders. You libbies think that effectively managin all the daily issues that affect Americans EVERY DAY should be important.
Well, as far as we Conservatives are concerned, the military is the ESSENCE of who we are.
We can watch bridges fall, roads deteriorate, food become poisoned, families go bankrupt cause someone in their family got sick, college become so expensive kids caint no longer go.
But NONE of that interests us ... we who are REAL patriots. REAL patriots are happy to exchange a vital home life for the struggle of maintainin vast military expenses.
Reply-
0%
Goppy5 months, 1 week ago
I know what yall are thinkin ... "I bet hes gointa go on bout Christian Conservatives again."
But I cant help it. I just cant seem to get my arms wrapped around this 'disconnect'.
If someone could help me understand, I would be so grateful ... and I wouldnt ever bother yall with my 'Christian Conservative' deal every ding dang day.
We Christian Conservatives are a POWERFUL votin block. We vote as a unit. We single handedly elected Goerge W. Bush ... TWICE!
But by every measure, if you look at what we believe to our very SOUL, the politicians on the right are complete and POLAR OPPOSITES to our 'stated' moral beliefes.
And I gotta say ... it STARTS with the Neo-Cons LOVE of Military Suppliers. We Christian Conservatives support ANY military request.
At the same tiem, we REJECT any help for families ... the very families that raise our children.
See? Thats why Ive had to come to the conclusion that Christian Conservatism is a POLITICAL notion.
Reply
-
-
-
0%
bubba25 months, 1 week ago
The morally bankrupt people that have been running this country have brought about a financial bankruptcy upon the entire country.
But those in power do NOT care about that. They don't have to worry about it because they have become more rich NOW and they can wallow in their money and in their power-trip while the rest of the country falls deeper into poverty.
What Bush and his cronies and his supporters have done is not just unlawful and immoral, it is evil.
Reply-
0%
Lurch5 months, 1 week ago
They don`t care about this new economic disaster they have consciously brought upon our nation because they know there are just as many opportunities to make money when things are going down as when they are going up. As long as you are either the one pulling the levers of at least know ahead of time before the levers are pulled.
The fascists bought the Congress people necessary to pass the archaic 2003 Bankruptcy Law. They knew full well the subprime collapse and economic disaster were coming.
Reply
-
-
0%
dunkirk5 months, 1 week ago
When Bush took office it became a feding frenzy by the military industrial complex. The sad sad fact thos is that rmoney wasnt spent on equipping the troops for the type of fighting they would be doing. FOr the trillions being spent we still have a lack of armored vehicles for the troops, ammunition, food, etc etc etc. But we dont need no accountability.
Reply -
0%
eugenegerard5 months, 1 week ago
This is called pillaging. The Bush Crime Family at work. Our children get to pay.
Reply -
0%
quackpot5 months, 1 week ago
Democrats: tax and spend.
Republicans: borrow from our children, print money and SPEND SPEND SPEND.
Reply -
0%
Charlson5 months, 1 week ago
I've noticed that the right 'playaz' aren't in on this post. Haven't much defence towards the gluttony of wealth accumulated on the backs of the poor and middle class and paving the way to America's ruin. Hell, they'll always be able to move somewhere else with their money or build a "Green Zone" to keep themselves safe from the rest of us.
Reply-
0%
Bkumm5 months, 1 week ago
-
0%
newbie04205 months, 1 week ago
"I've noticed that the right 'playaz' aren't in on this post. Haven't much defence towards the gluttony of wealth accumulated on the backs of the poor and middle class and paving the way to America's ruin. Hell, they'll always be able to move somewhere else with their money or build a "Green Zone" to keep themselves safe from the rest of us."
HAHAHA
Because only the "right" takes money from the poor and middle class, NEVER the "tax the pi$$ out of them" left???
Because only the "right" are rich enough to "move somewhere else"
I wish people could see how foolish they sound.
Reply-
0%
Bkumm5 months, 1 week ago
Please, please take your own advice. Think about it.
The primary argument of the supply siders (of which I assume you are one, using the extremely coherent "tax the pi##" out of them argument) is that more money needs to be put in the hands of the rich so that they can keep providing jobs by starting businesses and investing in existing businesses. If the defense budget tops $1 trillion and you cut taxes for the people (using conservatives own numbers) that pay over 50% of the taxes, from where do you suppose that money comes? Magicland? There are only so many taxpayers and if you cut the taxes for those that pay the most AND increase the budget someone else has to pay the piper. And if it isn't the "rich" then who?
In actuality, that isn't true either. Now, we borrow it from our good friends and allies China and Saudi Arabia. It still doesn't make sense.
I'm not asking you to change your mind, I'm just asking you to think about it.
Reply
-
-
-
-
0%
blablabla5 months, 1 week ago
And this exactly why we need Ron Paul! None of the Dems or Reps will do anything about this.
Reply -
0%
joeblowe5 months, 1 week ago
The author seems very determined to illustrate that we are overspending on our military. Certainly, to the extent that we are (clearly) WASTING billions of dollars in the middle east, I concur. In another time, the founding fathers of our country did NOT perceive that we should even HAVE a standing army - thus the Constitutional limitation on 2 years for military funding. Further, there is (far as I know) exactly NO authorization in the Constitution of the United States for our government to SELL arms (or anything else, for that matter) to anyone. As far as Boeing and others selling more arms than anyone else - why would that be a surprise? Who would you nominate to be more likely to fill that position? Brazil? Australia? Russia? China? (who would buy anything except AK-47's from EITHER of those 2? In arms, quality IS an issue...) Iraq? India? It's only reasonable that the U.S. should be at the top of that particular list. Be glad at least SOMETHING is still manufactured here...
Reply-
0%
joeblowe5 months, 1 week ago
And really, when it comes right down to it - I think I'd rather OVERSPEND on "defense" than underspend. Really - national defense IS a proper concern of the federal government. And with the world the way it is - and getting more so all the time as food, water, and energy get more scarce - I'm damn glad to have the biggest, best equipped army on Earth. And we can't get overhead protection in place soon enough to suit me. Trust me, if we don't control the sky, SOMEONE ELSE surely will - and we will NOT be happy about it.
Reply
-
-
0%
Goppy5 months, 1 week ago
I wonder if this statement would have ANY impact on the crazy ideeologists who support unlimited military spending.
The United States Military budget in 2005 roughly EQUALS the total military spending by ALL OTHER NATIONS OF THE WORLD ... COMBINED.
Since 2005, the military budget has been greatly expanded.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_budget_of...
Reply-
0%
Jaydee405 months, 1 week ago
"The United States Military budget in 2005 roughly EQUALS the total military spending by ALL OTHER NATIONS OF THE WORLD ... COMBINED."
If that doesn't tell everyone their intentions they're just stupid.
Reply -
0%
Mdiar5 months, 1 week ago
Not a surprise Goppy... that's about double the GDP percent the average country spends on military. I'd guess about four to five times what the average developed country spends. When we get into the "Top Ten" list so to speak of the UNs Human Development Index, with such nations as Iceland spending 0% of GDP on military, why I'd not be surprised if the average (not including the US, which is on the list, of course, dang not even the UKs fairly large spending for a developed nation can balance it, its ranked fifteen) would be close to 7 or 8 times that average. I'm not looking at the numbers past twice the world average (I mean after that I'm just estimating, could be wrong), but I'd not be very surprised if they weren't far off. Basically what it comes down to is the US, as its GDP percent, spends WAY more then any other country with a similar standard of living in the world. That number scares me more then half the world's military strength, truth be told.
Reply
-
-
0%
mmrhe5 months, 1 week ago
This problem will not be recognized for the sham it is until after our economy crumbles and the second Great Depression ignites a second Civil War.
Reply -
0%
Mdiar5 months, 1 week ago
...first I'm going to put it into these terms. The United States can be called a highly productive nation in terms of the GDP. The only single entity with a larger GDP also happens to have about 200 million more people and its only about two 2% higher then the US GDP, this would be the EU. In these terms the military spending of the United States is not outrageous compared to some countries, but it IS outrageous compared to other developed nations that the United States clearly is. I'd like to see the spending on military reduced from the 4% or so that it is now (about double the world average, a bit less then China) and put down to about 1.5%. I'd be happy with the world average of 2%. If the United States would do this it could again be able to claim with some authority that it is the most developed nation on the planet (with sensible policies implemented). Now, it really can't, particularly after the UN ranked it 10. Who wouldn't want to see this happen?
Reply
