When we were in Russia in the mid 80's the biggest complaint of the military was they needed 4 tanks to be able to have one that runs.

Now fast forward. After 8 years of military spending cut backs and emasculation we are now in that same boat.

The number one super power on the planet cannibalizing war machines to get one to work.

For those who think the increased spending in the military is not needed:

US Air Force bombers needed to send message to North Korea come up short | Fox News

(Don't let the source of Fox news in the link title distract you....get to the message which is what the thread is about!!)

Our military continues to be decimated because it has been taken over by politicians. cuts in spending by Obama, his social lab experiment and now lowering tolerance of marijuana use has this nation has led to morale problems. Many good men left. many good men refuse to enter. Paying for a volunteer military will bankrupt us. Look for the the day that our military is unionized

I pray we do not have to go to war because we will lose

Bring back conscription because too many people have no skin in the game and that leads to apathy

Personal Best Regards:

Originally Posted by Guest

Our military continues to be decimated because it has been taken over by politicians. cuts in spending by Obama, his social lab experiment and now lowering tolerance of marijuana use has this nation has led to morale problems. Many good men left. many good men refuse to enter. Paying for a volunteer military will bankrupt us. Look for the the day that our military is unionized

I pray we do not have to go to war because we will lose

Bring back conscription because too many people have no skin in the game and that leads to apathy

Personal Best Regards:

The "defense" budget is pretty big:

"In FY 2015, Pentagon and related spending totaled $598 billion, about 54% of the fiscal year 2015 U.S. discretionary budget."

But HALF the "entitlement" spending of over $1 trillion.

We spend more on our military than the next ten countries combined. We're in debt because WE'RE ALWAYS AT WAR. The defense contractors can legally pad the pockets of politicians, thanks to a conservative Supreme Court which ruled that "corporations are people" and can donate unlimited dark money to politicians.

Originally Posted by Guest

We spend more on our military than the next ten countries combined. We're in debt because WE'RE ALWAYS AT WAR. The defense contractors can legally pad the pockets of politicians, thanks to a conservative Supreme Court which ruled that "corporations are people" and can donate unlimited dark money to politicians.

The SCOTUS had to mellin...you CANNOT raise the $ billion needed for a presidential campaign from John Q Public with their limit of:

"An individual may give a maximum of: $2,700 per election to a federal candidate or the candidate's campaign committee.2 Notice that the limit applies separately to each election. Primaries, runoffs and general elections are considered separate elections. $5,000 per calendar year to a PAC."

The candidates NEED the BIG money...and they owe dearly for it...WE owe dearly for it...$20 trillion so far given to them and we got the bill.

Originally Posted by Guest

We spend more on our military than the next ten countries combined. We're in debt because WE'RE ALWAYS AT WAR. The defense contractors can legally pad the pockets of politicians, thanks to a conservative Supreme Court which ruled that "corporations are people" and can donate unlimited dark money to politicians.

Now that is off your chest....do you think it is right to have a rag tag military scrounging to make their equipment work?

Originally Posted by Guest

Now that is off your chest....do you think it is right to have a rag tag military scrounging to make their equipment work?

I disagree with your opinion that military is underfunded but would you raise taxes enough to pay for wars, cut medicare and social security, or continue to have your children and grandchildren pay for it as we are now. The military is badly bloated with even obvious cuts rejected by states with money coming in. IMO

Originally Posted by Guest

I disagree with your opinion that military is underfunded but would you raise taxes enough to pay for wars, cut medicare and social security, or continue to have your children and grandchildren pay for it as we are now. The military is badly bloated with even obvious cuts rejected by states with money coming in. IMO

Yep.. The Pentagon for years has asked for another base realignment but all the congress critters from states where bases would get closed will have none of it.

Originally Posted by Guest

Yep.. The Pentagon for years has asked for another base realignment but all the congress critters from states where bases would get closed will have none of it.

A base is a cash cow...

We are in a discussion of that old age conundrum of
butter v guns.

It certainly a reality that the world is in chaos and depending on the nation or region different applications of military deterrence would be involved. So the military is faced with dealing with a variety of scenarios

It is certainly a reality that the best deterrent of war is a good defense ( ie peace through strength)

We were ill-prepared for WWII and "but for" the response from USA manufacturers we would have been in dire straits .

Waging war has as much appeal as paying taxes but both are better than the alternative.

I think perhaps there could be better management of financial, physical and human resources n our military.

Too many people don't appear to understand our capitalist system and a desire to move to socialism.

They do not have any skin in the game and so war is a subject for others.

It is interested then they these same people believe that wealth ought to be shared but ignore the shared responsibilities that go to keeping this nation free.

Simply stated just watch an hour of television and you will see multiple examples of how the crazies are taking over this nation.

We need to return to the rule of law and order.

And we won't until we are able to have a national discussion.

And we can't have a national discussion because certain elements both foreign and domestic are working to keep this nation divided

We are in my view at the precipice

Personal Best Regards:

Originally Posted by Guest

We are in a discussion of that old age conundrum of
butter v guns.

It certainly a reality that the world is in chaos and depending on the nation or region different applications of military deterrence would be involved. So the military is faced with dealing with a variety of scenarios

It is certainly a reality that the best deterrent of war is a good defense ( ie peace through strength)

We were ill-prepared for WWII and "but for" the response from USA manufacturers we would have been in dire straits .

Waging war has as much appeal as paying taxes but both are better than the alternative.

I think perhaps there could be better management of financial, physical and human resources n our military.

Too many people don't appear to understand our capitalist system and a desire to move to socialism.

They do not have any skin in the game and so war is a subject for others.

It is interested then they these same people believe that wealth ought to be shared but ignore the shared responsibilities that go to keeping this nation free.

Simply stated just watch an hour of television and you will see multiple examples of how the crazies are taking over this nation.

We need to return to the rule of law and order.

And we won't until we are able to have a national discussion.

And we can't have a national discussion because certain elements both foreign and domestic are working to keep this nation divided

We are in my view at the precipice

Personal Best Regards:

Make America WHITE again and put men back in charge...it'll be fixed in short order.

Keep the women and minorities in charge...and America falls in 30 years.

Choose.

Originally Posted by Guest

We spend more on our military than the next ten countries combined. We're in debt because WE'RE ALWAYS AT WAR. The defense contractors can legally pad the pockets of politicians, thanks to a conservative Supreme Court which ruled that "corporations are people" and can donate unlimited dark money to politicians.

There should be reasonable limitations on military spending. The OP does bring up a problem but that seems more related a messed up bureaucracy than in the budget.

WE do not need more aircraft carriers and the like unless Donald John Trump wants a war with China or Russia which would become nuclear IMHO. It is like Trump's thinking is from pre WWI.

Originally Posted by Guest

There should be reasonable limitations on military spending. The OP does bring up a problem but that seems more related a messed up bureaucracy than in the budget.

WE do not need more aircraft carriers and the like unless Donald John Trump wants a war with China or Russia which would become nuclear IMHO. It is like Trump's thinking is from pre WWI.

With your VAST knowledge of military staffing and support requirements, I'm surprised that you haven't been offered a senior level position with Defense Pricing/Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy (DP/DPAP).

You know NOTHING!

The problem is not about military spending. The problem is those in charge of making the decisions on these contracts. They go out and sign a huge defense contract. Then half way thru the building of a jet or ship they issue new updates of what they want done. This was the cause of the over budget USS Gerald Ford, the aircraft carrier. That cost twice as much and took twice as long. That is where the problem is.

Waste doesn't defend us. On the contrary, spending too much on the Pentagon just subsidizes bad choices.
The Pentagon's $44 billion Defense Logistics Agency notes that it spent over $7 billion on unneeded equipment. Meanwhile, Congress is doing its part by inserting its own pet projects into the budget, whether or not they are top priorities in terms of defense needs. The most notable example is the F-35 combat aircraft, which at $1.4 trillion over its lifetime is the most expensive weapons project ever undertaken by the Pentagon. Despite the fact that the plane is far from ready for prime time, Congress stuffed 11 additional F-35s into the defense bill that was signed by the president last month.

US military wasting money - Washington Times