No it's not, because you know and I know it won't pass the senate and even if it does, it won't pass the President. it's bad enough the R's are trying to blame teachers for making too much money, but this one is just ridiculous. How about we cut the budget on the things that actually are the majority of the reason we're out of wack with the budget? Or, god forbid, we tax the precious top 1% of the country a little more? Why are we so protective over 1% of the population, but want to blame teachers?
Your second sentence is in direct conflict with your first sentence. Please try to pick one viewpoint and stay with it.
They have to cut medicare and/or social security to make a real dent in the budget. Cutting 80% from the military budget would cut the deficit by 1/3. They really need to stop spending on things just because they're "cool" (to progressives), and just for the sake of it.
As the recession ends, tax revenues will go back up and spending will go down, and the deficits will be reduced. And then cutting 80% from the military budget will cut the deficit by a lot more than 1/3. I know you want to ignore this fact, but today's deficits are TEMPORARY. Making long term cuts based on short-term problems isn't smart policy. Unless, of course, you have an axe to grind and see an opportunity to grind it. barfo
The military "budget" most of which goes untracked and uncounted due to being "classified", is only a tiny piece of the military pie. "The military" includes entire armies devoted to protecting other countries. It includes at dozens of bases we could do without. It includes over 15,000 nuclear warheads we could never possibly use. It includes enough unneeded vehicles to provide transportation for several entire countries. Every base includes subsidized houding, food, healthcare, all for a bunch of unneeded grunts drawing paychecks for life to play army. Sell the bases to industry. Sell the vehicles to anyone who wants them. Sell the nuclear warheads to Halliburton and let them fight their own wars for a change. Make the food available to people who actually need it. Cutiing 80% of "the military" would pay off the debt and leave us with our largest ever budget surplus.
Without the Bush/Halliburton wars, we'd have no deficit at all. We'd have a gigantic surplus, eclipsing the one Clinton left us. There would not have been an economic collapse at all and no bailout would have been needed. Live by the sword, die by the sword. Financial cost of the Iraq War Direct costs As of February 2010, around $704 billion has been spent based on estimates of current expenditure rates,[1] which range from the Congressional Research Service (CRS) estimate of $2 billion per week to $12 billion a month, an estimate by economist Joseph Stiglitz.[2] Those figures are significantly more than typical estimates published just prior to the start of the Iraq War, many of which were based on a shorter term of involvement. For example, in a March 16, 2003 Meet the Press interview of Vice President Dick Cheney, held less than a week before the Iraq War began, host Tim Russert reported that "every analysis said this war itself would cost about $80 billion, recovery of Baghdad, perhaps of Iraq, about $10 billion per year. We should expect as American citizens that this would cost at least $100 billion for a two-year involvement.".[3] [edit] AppropriationsSee also: Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund FY2003 Supplemental: Operation Iraqi Freedom: Passed April 2003; Total $78.5 billion, $54.4 billion Iraq War FY2004 Supplemental: Iraq and Afghanistan Ongoing Operations/Reconstruction: Passed November 2003; Total $87.5 billion, $70.6 billion Iraq War FY2004 DoD Budget Amendment: $25 Emergency Reserve Fund (Iraq Freedom Fund): Passed July 2004, Total $25 billion, $21.5 billion (estimated) Iraq War FY2005 Emergency Supplemental: Operations in the War on Terror; Activities in Afghanistan; Tsunami Relief: Passed April 2005, Total $82 billion, $58 billion (estimated) Iraq War FY2006 Department of Defense appropriations: Total $50 billion, $40 billion (estimated) Iraq War. FY2006 Emergency Supplemental: Operations Global War on Terror; Activities in Iraq & Afghanistan: Passed February 2006, Total $72.4 billion, $60 billion (estimated) Iraq War FY2007 Department of Defense appropriations: $70 billion(estimated) for Iraq War-related costs[4][5] FY2007 Emergency Supplemental (proposed) $100 billion FY2008 Bush administration has proposed around $190 billion for the Iraq War and Afghanistan[6] FY2009 Obama administration has proposed around $130 billion in additional funding for the Iraq War and Afghanistan.[7] FY2011 Obama administration proposes around $159.3 billion for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.[8] [edit] Indirect and delayed costsAccording to a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report published in October 2007, the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could cost taxpayers a total of $2.4 trillion dollars by 2017 when counting the huge interest costs because combat is being financed with borrowed money. The CBO estimated that of the $2.4 trillion long-term price tag for the war, about $1.9 trillion of that would be spent on Iraq, or $6,300 per U.S. citizen.[9][10] Stiglitz, former chief economist of the World Bank and winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, has stated the total costs of the Iraq War on the US economy will be three trillion dollars in a moderate scenario, and possibly more in the most recent published study, published in March 2008.[11] Stiglitz has stated: "The figure we arrive at is more than $3 trillion. Our calculations are based on conservative assumptions...Needless to say, this number represents the cost only to the United States. It does not reflect the enormous cost to the rest of the world, or to Iraq."[11] The extended combat and equipment loss have placed a severe financial strain on the U.S Army, causing the elimination of non-essential expenses such as travel and civilian hiring.[12][13] Long-term health care costsA recent study indicated that the long term health care costs for wounded Iraq war veterans could range from $350 billion to $700 billion.[14] [edit] Military equipment lostThe U.S. has lost a number of pieces of military equipment during the war. The following statistics are from the Center for American Progress:;[15] they are approximations that include vehicles lost in non-combat-related accidents as of 2009. [edit] Land equipment80 M1 Abrams tanks 55 Bradley fighting vehicles 20 Stryker wheeled combat vehicles 20 M113 armored personnel carriers 250 Humvees 500+ Mine clearing vehicles, heavy/medium trucks, and trailers 10 Amphibious Assault Vehicles[16][17] [edit] Air equipmentMain article: List of aviation accidents and incidents during the Iraq War 109 Helicopters 18 Fixed-Wing Aircraft In June 2006, the Army said that the cost of replacing its depleted equipment tripled from that of 2005.[18] As of December 2006, according to government data reported by the Washington Post, the military stated that nearly 40% of the army’s total equipment has been to Iraq, with an estimated yearly refurbishment cost of $US 17 billion. The military states that the yearly refurbishment cost has increased by a factor of ten compared to that of the pre-war state. As of December 2006 approximately 500 M1 tanks, 700 Bradley Fighting Vehicles and 1000 Humvees are awaiting repair in US military depots.[19]
We had surpluses over $200B (which were an illusion, but whatever). $704B / 8 years = $88B / year. $200B - $88B = still a surplus. Now google the cost of the medicare prescription drug benefit.
