The government tends to hide the real costs of our militarism while blaming entitlements

as the only culprit.

-snip-

In an attempt to disguise the true size of the U.S. military empire, the government has long hidden major military-related expenditures in departments other than Defense. For example, $23.4bn for the Department of Energy goes towards developing and maintaining nuclear warheads; and $25.3bn in the Department of State budget is spent on foreign military assistance (primarily for Israel, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Republic, Egypt and Pakistan). Another $1.03bn outside the official Department of Defense budget is now needed for recruitment and re-enlistment incentives for the overstretched U.S. military, up from a mere $174m in 2003, when the war in Iraq began. The Department of Veterans Affairs currently gets at least $75.7bn, 50% of it for the long-term care of the most seriously injured among the 28,870 soldiers so far wounded in Iraq and 1,708 in Afghanistan. The amount is universally derided as inadequate. Another $46.4bn goes to the Department of Homeland Security.

-snip-

http://www.alternet.org/story/83555/?page=entire


Hopefully with this development posted by Babylonsister,

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4788784

the plans to create another defense industry hiding under the word security will be thwarted.

It is not for mere mortals to question.

Create war disasters somehow, then blow up and privatize social programs and infrastructure. Democratic socialists being the enemy that big business persons targets via the military machine. And this their main stronghold democracy.

Dumb bombs and dumber short-sighted bombers destroying the earth's stability, to say nothing of precious human lives.

And doubly amazing how I get scoffed at when I tell people we have enough money for everyone if we were really committed to the future and each other.

Oh, well, as Carlin put it so well:

"We like war! We're a war-like people."

Ignorant and superstitious too, without decent education.

It is a sorry indicator when a society spends more on prisons than on education, and way more on war.

I would argue that the US would have very few enemies in about 5 years if we took half the budget for the war dept and transferred it to the peace corp. Belligerent warmongers have about ruined the US and world economies by playing off fear and hatred.

How about a ghost of Lennon singing, Give Peace a Chance? What is it going to take to dispel the destructive fear and hatred being foisted on the world by profiteers? The ice caps melting?

while others associate greatness with those that would reach to help a disabled child or one in poverty. Americans seem enthralled with the first.

or rationalize not spending money on the general welfare of the people or commonwealth.

Military personell = heroes, the best of America.

Entitlement recipients = human garbage, useless eaters.

How much do you want to bet that a lot of it is sitting in Swiss banks? Or has been used for black ops?

That $2.3 trillion would just about cover the deficit, don't you think?

If anyone starts blathering about "needing a strong defense," tell them that any agency that can "lose track of" $2.3 TRILLION can't be trusted with such an important matter.

and all those machines we abandon in the desert when they either stop working or are blown up and all the unnecessary new weapons systems (that the Pentagon doesn't even want) in development and all the black ops and all the rest, it's a wonder there's anything at all left for other purposes . . .

(oh, wait . . . there's not . . . we're either borrowing it or printing it . . .)

I've been saying for years (as have others) that a cut in the "defense" budget of 50% or more is what's needed to get this economy on the right track . . . given that our current expenses now exceed the total defense budgets of all of the other nations on earth combined, we'd be no less safe than we are now -- assuming we stop just pissing money away and "losing" $3 trillion chunks that are never accounted for . . .

when Bush was "elected," he promised that the government would be run like a business since the "adults are now in charge" . . . given the current state of American business (i.e. bankruptcy), I guess he accomplished his goal . . .