Are we spending too much in military? and not enought to its own citizen needs?

Question

I talking about U.S.

Answer 1

I'd say no.  We're spending too much money on the occupation in Iraq, but our military spending is about right.  We have the most technologically advanced military on earth and that's a good thing to have when the sh*t hits the fan.  

As for how much the US should spend on it's citizens, that's going to depend on your view of government and what the constitution explicitly allows the federal government to do.  I'm kind of libertarian leaning, so I don't think the government should be spending much money at all.

Answer 2

Why are business leaders from across the nation visiting the nation's capital to discuss military spending? What do ice cream...shoes...and toys have to do with a $265 billion military budget? Is military spending good or bad for business?

Have you ever wondered what impact military spending has on your own job or on your own business? Today we examine how budget decisions and military spending impact our total economy and what that means for our total security in the future.

The relationship between military spending and the business world is a puzzle of interlacing pieces which include:

A balanced budget, which has been the main focus recently for both the president and Congress. Debates over the budget involve questions about how to spend government funds to improve our economy and quality of life.

Domestic spending programs, which include education, job training and building infrastructure.

The defense industry, which builds our military equipment and provides jobs for millions of workers.

The military budget, which will total about $265 billion in 1997.

There's the public. How do these government decisions about public programs impact their lives?

The economy: There are questions about how to build new industries and enhance our competitive advantage.

All of these pieces and how they interact determine how well American businesses will be able to compete in the future.

This past year, the public watched the battle on Capitol Hill to balance the budget. This can be done in one of two ways: We can either increase taxes, which is an unpopular option, or we can reduce the amount the government spends each year. The choice has been to implement budget cuts across the board for every government agency except the Department of Defense.

These spending reductions in domestic investment and public programs, while keeping military spending off the table prompted business leaders from across the nation to join together in the creation of a coalition: Business Leaders for New Priorities.

If you ask the man and woman on the street what's the size of the US military budget, you get an answer somewhere between $200 million and $15 billion. We're dealing with numbers that the human mind just can't conceive of. You know, how much is a billion? If you earned a thousand dollars a day, it would take you 2740 years to earn a billion dollars.

They understand the need for future investment. So, when they look at our current federal budget and they see us spending all -- sinking all of this money into military weapons that we will never use, while starving investments that are vital to our future economy, whether it's training or education of children, whether it's university scholarships, and they're much more sensitive to the future costs of not making investments now in our future.

The defense budget places a big burden on the economy. In some respects, even though it's slightly down from where it was during the Cold War, it's an even bigger burden because we face global competition that we didn't face ten years ago. Since the Berlin Wall fell down, we've entered this global economy and Eastern Europe, China -- there's all kinds of new actors in the economic scene and competition for American workers and American business is much fiercer than it used to be.

Discretionary spending is the amount of money that the government appropriates each year for spending on a variety of public programs. The discretionary budget totaled about $530 billion in 1996. This accounts for one-third of all federal spending, and this amount has been shrinking for the past 30 years.

Half of this funding goes to a variety of domestic and international programs, including: housing, agriculture, education, environmental protection, law enforcement, space exploration, research and development, international assistance and other activities.

The other half is spent on the military.

: On the other side, we have fights over things like Social Security, where the old are being pitted against the young. Meanwhile, discussions about investment, public investment, the infrastructure, the research and development and education, have more or less been stopped because we're saying we can't afford them.

The health of our economy depends on the investments we make in things such as roads, so that goods can be delivered; transportation, so that people can get to work; and worker training, which increases productivity.

Evidence shows that long-term investments in education and research and development pay off because they often increase productivity which, in turn, increases company profits, worker income and the strength of our economy.

On the other hand, short-term investments may have a negative impact.

The result of reducing the amount of public spending on infrastructure can be seen in a variety of ways:

The median hourly wage has fallen 7.5 percent since 1973, so families have to work harder to maintain their incomes.

The amount of money spent on physical infrastructure has fallen dramatically by about $15 billion between 1977 and today.

The impact of this can be seen in the condition of our streets, byways and bridges. It is hard for any business to prosper or even run efficiently if infrastructure is in disrepair and workers are not adequately trained

This year the government will spend $265 billion on the military. Compare this to several other government programs. [Bar graphs displayed on screen.]

Spending for defense has been reduced by nearly 40 percent from its peak during the Reagan build-up in the mid-1980s. However, it still accounts for half of all discretionary spending.

Can we afford to spend this much on the military or are we on the path toward bankruptcy?

What happens if we continue to spend such high amounts on the military?

In the longer term, if we don't make an investment in education, in infrastructure, and in research and development, civilian research and development, it's going to be tougher for our companies to compete, and that will have a negative impact on employment.

There is little doubt that we have the best equipped and trained military in the world. They can defend our security interests. But national security requires both a strong military and a strong economy. When the amount we spend on our military starts to impair our ability to invest in our economy and compete in the global market, we are decreasing our overall security.

We are spending about half of what we should be, in terms of public investment in the future. The Japanese are spending much more than we are. The Europeans are spending much more than we are. So that gradually what's going to happen as those countries invest more in education, in technology, in new systems for the environment, and we invest less, we are going to be disadvantaged competitively.

I think what made these foreign countries have this ability, whether it's Germany, Japan, Korea, they haven't had to spend the money for the military that we've been spending to protect them from what, I don't know.

The United States spends 3.3 percent of its GDP on the military. Compare this to some of our economic competitors: Japan spends about one percent and Germany about 2 percent. They are focussing more on their economies than on their militaries. They are increasing their wealth while maintaining their security.

It's the quality of life that suffers so much in this country when the dollars are drained away from the Head Start programs, from AmeriCorps, from all the things that are important. We've lost sight sometimes of what it is we're trying to do. What is it we're defending?

National security is more than just the strength of our military. A sound social fabric, effective political leadership, and a vitally strong economy count for more. We need to ensure that the investments we make both protect our security and increase our wealth as a nation.

Join us next week when we look at high-tech weapons and their role in the future of warfare.

Answer 3

No...if we didn't have a fully equipped and trained military, we would have no citizens left. What would be the point then?

Answer 4

We're not spending too much on the military, we're spending too much on IRAQ.

We've spent enough there to build a new house for every man woman and child, while we've let our roads buildings and bridges collapse and shipped our jobs overseas while giving the corporations that do that a big fat tax deduction - so American companies get PAID to lay off Americans and hire people in other countries to do the work.

If we were more careful about where and when to start a WAR, our Military wouldn't need so much money.

We've ignored America's needs for so long that this country isn't WORTH taking over any more - that's Anti-Terrorism at it's finest.

Answer 5

yes because more and more people are getting poor each day

Answer 6

I agree with the first guy. But if the soldiers are getting all the money, thenwhat about us in the U.S.? Thanks to Bush, theres not even a middle class now. The gas prices are going up. By the time I turn 16 the gas would be $4.00! Thats going expensive. By the way, what about the homeless? Huh? they need shelter. How bout people on the coast? The need shelter and food. I think its time to call back the troops and call a treaty. By the time I'm 18, the war is going to be a WWIII! I say we need Obama as president! We need a good leader, and now!!!