In the WSJ, there's a piece by Arthur C. Brooks, Edwin J. Feulner and William Kristol on Defense spending: ...In his Aug. 31 speech announcing the end of "combat operations" in Iraq, President Obama argued that the military efforts the nation has made since 9/11 had "shortchanged investments in our own people and contributed to record deficits." As Bob Woodward's new book "Obama's Wars" makes plain, a similar mentality pervaded the president's Afghanistan strategy: His response to the need for a long-term American military presence was, "I am not spending a trillion dollars!" Consider the actual dollars. According to the Congressional Budget Office's most recent projections, the president's proposed budget for 2011 will add $10 trillion in debt over the next decade. By 2020, the federal government will owe $20 trillion, or $170,000 per American household. That's a beast that must be stopped, but it is a beast that has not principally been fattened on a diet of Pentagon spending. Even with the costs of Iraq and Afghanistan, this year the Department of Defense will spend some $720 billion—about 4.9% of our gross domestic product, significantly below the average of 6.5% since World War II... Go read the whole article at the WSJ.
Read the complete post at http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Blackfive/~3/x7r5vH6CYz8/defense-spending-perspective.html
Posted
Oct 04 2010, 01:40 AM
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BLACKFIVE