Forum Post: Public overwhelmingly supports large defense spending cuts
Posted 12 years ago on May 10, 2012, 2:42 p.m. EST by brightonsage
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By R. Jeffrey Smith, iWatch News
While politicians, insiders and experts may be divided over how much the government should spend on the nation's defense, there's a surprising consensus among the public about what should be done: They want to cut spending far more deeply than either the Obama administration or the Republicans.
That's according to the results of an innovative, new, nationwide survey by three nonprofit groups, the Center for Public integrity, the Program for Public Consultation and the Stimson Center. Not only does the public want deep cuts, it wants those cuts to encompass spending in virtually every military domain -- air power, sea power, ground forces, nuclear weapons, and missile defenses.
According to the survey, in which respondents were told about the size of the budget as well as shown expert arguments for and against spending cuts, two-thirds of Republicans and nine in 10 Democrats supported making immediate cuts -- a position at odds with the leaderships of both political parties.
The average total cut was around $103 billion, a substantial portion of the current $562 billion base defense budget, while the majority supported cutting it at least $83 billion. These amounts both exceed a threatened cut of $55 billion at the end of this year under so-called "sequestration" legislation passed in 2011, which Pentagon officials and lawmakers alike have claimed would be devastating.
Today the House Republicans voted to override the cuts of the sequestration deal. So, who do they say they are representing?
And who do you believe they are actually representing?
The House is full of frauds.
The cuts to defense spending still allowed for a 20% increase over time.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/10/paul-ryan-budget-house-defense-food-stamps_n_1506454.html
Do you know who loves defense spending? WALL STREET DOES!!! They make a killing from it.
Sure and the defense contractors, both of whom own very effective puppets in Congress.
Good Post
Thanx.
Thank you for posting this, yes I saw where the GOP leaders were going back on their word and redoing the budget deal they fought so hard for, there really is no way around it, get rid of the GOP, or shut America down, the wealthy will rule us from Singapore.
The deal was supposed to buy time so a real fix could be crafted. We can see clearly who is NOT interested in solutions.
To Singapore and beyond. Buzz Lightyear, economist
I know but the day they announced it I said OMG they are going to slash Medicare and Defense, because the one thing I knew for sure was no matter how bad the poison pill the GOP were not going to allow anything to pass.
The GOP are truly mad dogs now, not figuratively, when I was around twelve I had to put down a dog I loved because it became rapid, I know what it looks like trust me on this, until the people in Washington and across the nation "get it" this sort of "surprising thing will happen over and over. They are mad dogs and must be put down, before they kill us all.
Clinton signed the big free trade deal that crushed the unions with Mexico and China, with plenty of bipartisan support.
Clinton did a number of things inculding balancing the budget and setting us on a path to pay the whole thing off, till the GOP got ahold of it.
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I was a humble private, a draftee in 1967. Being an ethnic New Yorker I spent more than my share of time cleaning up in the kitchen in basic training. (Sort of customary then). I saw the sergeants rob and steal the soldiers' food pack it into their private vehicles and go to town selling it to local eateries. I'm sure that's not unique, they were so open and brazen about it because in their minds it was as normal as showering in the morning and the supply sergeants were notorious. Of course all that was small potatoes compared to the army buying rifles that blew up in soldiers' hands. And that again is small potatoes against the massive fraud in military contracts. I doubt anything has much changed although I understand soldiers don't staff the kitchens any more.
No, food preparation has been subcontracted, as had been many other tasks soldiers used to do, Many of the security functions like the CIA's functions have been subcontracted out as well, We know it costs more, but does it make us more secure? Sadly corruption is pervasive. Cleaning it out has to start somewhere, then proceed everywhere. The military can't provide an accurate financial statement and hasn't for decades. Could a business get away with that?
Republicans wont cut it. Democrats wont cut it.
The nation is on the downturn. Might be time to hire a different company to make policy.
What wasn't included above was that 90% of Dems support these deep cuts and over 60% of Repelicans. Dems have proposed several things that R's constituencies support but R's House members have blocked. So Dems sometimes do with their constituents want, Repelicans seldom do.
A .5% cut is not a cut. Its an insult.
top rate dropping from 90% to 15% and the GOP demanding even more, that's the insult
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My suggestion for defense would be twice what number two (China) would spend which would be under $250b.
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