Cite it. Last one I saw was about three years ago.
>
> >> And just for shits and giggles,
> >> even though technically it isn't part of the military budget, let's not
> >> forget the billions of dollars spent on medical care for tens of
> >> thousands of Americans permanently ruined but not killed over there.
>
> > Ok, you list a bunch of crap. I gave you numbers and examples.
>
> > Why are you so intent on being right that you ignore actual facts?
>
> > The FACT is, the difference between the FY 2010 and FY 2012 defense
> > budgets was a TOTAL of 3%. You'll note that that ***includes*** both
> > wars, and that the number is less than inflation.
>
> Hardly a dramatic cut, is it? And of course, that's the amount allocated
> to the Department of Defense. There's virtually the entire nuclear
> program stashed under the Department of Energy, a bunch of proto-military
> stuff in DHS, and 'non-military' expenditures for private entities
> serving the military, whether custodial or transportation or even
> protection.
Yawn. The 3% INCLUDES both wars, which were previously off the books.
>
> And of course, there is still the matter of all those injured vets.
>
> > Once more; a FLAT defense budget INCLUDING two wars that had previously
> > been conducted off the books. How is that not a pretty significant cut?
>
> It didn't exactly stay off the books, did it? It was an accounting
> gimmick to downplay the size of the deficits, but it eventually was
> tabulated. It's not like the money simply vanished, unless you count
> those pallettes of $100 bills, or the billions lost in "rebuilding" in
> both Iraq and Afghanistan. (Oh, and before you leap to your paranoid
> defense of all things Democratic, I'll note that I don't blame Obama for
> that).
>
> > There have also been two proposals for cuts; the first one was approved
> > by Dems before we helped boot them out of office, and the second one was
> > punted by the current House, thus kicking in the nuts your basic premise
> > that "both parties" are basically the same regarding the defense budget.
>
> I said that on matters military, both parties have spent like drunken
> sailors. Do you really think the Republicans have America outspending
> the rest of the world combined on military all on their own?
>
YES!!!!!! You've been on here prattling on about the right wing for 16
years, and you don't think they have any influence over government?
The government's been dominated by ever-more-radicalized neocons for
the last 32 years. Haven't you noticed? Jesus, you LOVE to talk
politics, but you sure as shit don't know much about it.
Out of 32 years, Republicans have been in the White House 20 of them,
which means they controlled both ends of the process. In the other 12
years, Clinton had control for eight, but he only had a Democratic
Congress for two. And yet, the defense budget dropped during his term.
Bush, OTOH, exploded the shit out of it for six years. The Democratic
Congress helped a bit when they got in, but the economy was imploding.
And Obama was kinda preoccupied with keeping us out of a Depression
when he took office; did you really expect him to gut the military,
and put even MORE people out of work? And perhaps you heard, but the
far left fucked up in 2010, and handed the House back to the GOP. How
many defense cuts do you imagine Obama will be able to get through
now? He's tried killing a few weapons programs, but they reinstate
them. And he can't just shut down the military while he fights with
them.
If you had been paying attention, during the last Congress (which you
guys whined about for two fucking years!) there were a number of
proposals to offer subsidies to encourage retrofitting some defense
plants and other factories, to turn them into alternative energy
plants. THAT is how you solve the problem. You can't just lop off 3-4
weapons systems overnight, especially when unemployment is around 8%.
See, you apparently only see weapons. What you fail to see are
individual workers (some even union) building those weapons and making
damned good money doing so. And, right now you have a Congress that is
being hamstrung by radicals, whom you claim are "the same" as the
Democrats. They block everything good Obama has tried to do. How would
you like Democrats to make large defense cuts right now, with a
radical Congress that won't even pass a jobs bill?
I swear, all of this "both parties are the same" bullshit really chaps
me. How do you call yourself a "political junkie" or a "news junkie"
and not even notice that one party has become completely radicalized?
When you and your far left brethren rail about both parties being the
same, not only are you full of shit, but moderate swing voters only
hear that message, and they think Democrats and Republicans are two
sides of the same coin, which is, of course, complete and utter
horseshit. Seriously; what people HEAR is, John Boehner and Nancy
Pelosi are the same. Really? Are they?
I'm trying to figure out if you're just so gullible that you believe
everything the left wing bloggers tell you, or you've been blustering
on Usenet for so long, it's clouded your judgment. But surely you have
to have noticed that Ronald Reagan would be too "liberal" for today's
GOP.
Democrats would cut defense, but do so smartly, which you would whine
about, because you have the same problem right wingers have; you don't
understand where defense money goes. Obama proposed cutting several
weapons systems last year, including the F-22, which is useless, and
the current GOP House put it back. Of course, you wouldn't have
noticed that, because you and your ilk were obsessing over the 1 page
section of the NDAA dealing with "indefinite detention" and ignoring
everything else in it.
If Republicans take charge again, they would once again explode the
size of the defense budget, and probably invade Iran, costing another
couple of trillion.
That you can even BEGIN to claim they're even remotely alike makes me
wonder what you're smoking.
>
> >> >> Now, if the Supercommittee default holds, then yes, there will be
> >> >> significant cuts to the military, and Obama can take credit for
> >> >> that. But the GOP are doing everything they can to renege on that,
> >> >> or at least make political hay out of it.
>
> >> > Last year alone saw $78 billion in cuts over the next five years, not
> >> > including the end of the Iraq war. I'd call that significant. In
> >> > fact, the GOP has been whining about that for a year; I'm surprised
> >> > you hadn't heard.
>
> >> The cuts are still being debated and haven't happened yet. What you're
> >> hearing is preemptive whining.
>
> > They HAVE happened. They went through before the Democrats left office.
> > Jesus, I even gave you a link.
>
> You have me a link to the debt ceiling deal--which I acknowledged prior
> to that. Even gave Obama credit for that. You're so intent on
> disagreeing you can't even discern where we're in agreement.
Yeah, I do. Your basic premise is that BOTH parties are responsible
for the high defense budget, which is an incredibly stupid statement
to make. Carter cut defense pretty seriously during his term, then
Reagan exploded the defense budget. Bush Sr, made some cuts after the
Cold War was over, which Clinton continued. Then Bush, Jr. and the GOP
Congress exploded the defense budget to levels Reagan could have only
dreamed of, and conducted two wars off the books using borrowed money.
Obama's first two passed defense budgets only saw a 1% per year
increase, even though he folded both wars into them, and for his third
budget, he ordered severe cuts, which the GOP Congress restored.
Your claim that both parties are responsible for the high defense
budget is laughable. The last Democrat to blow up the defense budget
was LBJ. That was a while ago.
>
> > You're wrong. GHWB was NOT the only one to cut defense, and Obama has
> > cut it, actually pretty significantly.But then, your ilk seems to like
> > trashing him as much as the wingnuts. You certainly seem just as willing
> > to believe bullshit.
>
> I don't see a 3% increase on the DoD increase as being much in the way of
> a cut. And I'm guessing the 3% includes the defaults from the failed
> turkey committee, which haven't happened yet.
It's a pretty substantial cut, when you consider it included
expenditures for both wars.
>
> > Bullshit doesn't turn into wisdom just because it's spouted by a
> > liberal. Stop it.
>
> You talking to me or yourself?
>
I'm not the one claiming "both parties" let the defense budget blow
up, against all evidence.