Not to mention that arguing for funding something by defunding an unrelated service only serves to complicate the debate. Modern US govt spending does not need

Not to mention that arguing for funding something by defunding an unrelated service only serves to complicate the debate. Modern US govt spending does not need to be balanced, the US govt has shown the ability to run insanely high deficits without US bonds being significantly downgraded. If the argument was that the US can afford UBI because we can afford the military then that's more reasonable (although not quite correct as you pointed out).