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> Need to start by not 1) serving as the worlds policeman 2) building double the aircraft carrier tonnage of the rest of the world combined. 3) spending a trill

> Need to start by not 1) serving as the worlds policeman 2) building double the aircraft carrier tonnage of the rest of the world combined. 3) spending a trillion dollars on newest latest fighters not ready for service when we aren't at war, 4) staging US troops and ships in the Middle East or Europe when both are immensely wealthy and able to defend themselves. 5) pouring $40B into a launch system design based on obsolete technologies and an overweight deep space capsule that needs a year to replace a single bad power unit. 6) Not subsidizing professional sports leagues paying millions a year per employee. etc, etc. Have you looked at the federal budget? The expenditures you mention are insignificant. Social security and medical assistance programs make up 48% [1] of the federal budget. Defense only makes up 16%, and of that, only 27% goes to the navy. Another 8% is various assistance programs. 8% is interest on debt. 0.5% is all of NASA. You can't really reduce the government's expenditure levels by cutting a few high-profile programs that some consider wasteful. The majority of the budget goes to supporting the most vulnerable in society. Cutting these programs is politically impossible. > thousand page earmarked pork funding bills and focus their responsibilities on legitimate national interests. Earmarks are dead already. But they shouldn't be: earmarks let lawmakers swap favors in a way that promotes the smooth operation of government and compromise in lawmaking. Yes, there's some corruption, but that corruption was a small price to pay for decreasing the overall level of hostility in the legislature and promoting compromise. [1] https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-budget/policy-basics-where-do-our-federal-tax-dollars-go https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-budget/policy-basics-w...

snicker7 6y ago
Earmarks and pork funding is not even corruption. It is a representative's duty to advocate on behalf of their constituents. And constituents want spending programs in their communities.
- quotemstr 6y ago
  There is a sense in which pork wastes money: distributed production is less efficient than centralized production. And you could call a congressman wasting the public's money to get something for this district a kind of corruption. But like I said, I think this inefficiency is a small price to pay for peace.
  - valuearb 6y ago
    It doesn't lead to peace, it leads to terrible legislation hundreds of pages deep in special gifts to special interests at a huge cost to our economy.
- valuearb 6y ago
  Earmarks and pork are nothing other than corruption. The SLS is the clearest example. US taxpayers have invested close to $20B in a launch system that was outdated the day it was designed and will literally cost 100 times more per pound than commercially available launch systems. The first reason it's so costly is that the US congress required it to use solid rocket boosters, which increase launch risks, and substantially increase launch costs. The second reason the SLS is so costly is that congress required it to use RS-25 engines, which were some of the most expensive rocket engines ever designed, originally costing $45M a pop. They were so expensive because they were used on the Shuttle and had to be refurbished between launches instead of expended (destroyed) every launch. But not only will the RS-25s used on the SLS be expended every launch, Aeroject is getting $100M(!) each to build new ones. And it forced the SLS to use one of the worst possible first stage fuels, Hydrogen, which requires carrying a massively heavy cryogenic tank, construction of has held up launches for years, By contrast, each SpaceX Merlin which has roughly half the thrust of an RS-25 costs around $500,000 to build, 200 TIMES LESS! And uses a far more compact and effective first stage fuel.
valuearb 6y ago
LOL Earmarks clearly still exist, just under different names, and have always been used solely for corrupt purposes. Pork barrel spending is a huge price to pay for enabling national legislators to agree to legislation that's clearly bad for the country as a whole, in order to fund projects for their political supports. And most social security payments go to people with living standards at or above the US median.

snicker7 6y ago

Earmarks and pork funding is not even corruption. It is a representative's duty to advocate on behalf of their constituents. And constituents want spending programs in their communities.

quotemstr 6y ago
There is a sense in which pork wastes money: distributed production is less efficient than centralized production. And you could call a congressman wasting the public's money to get something for this district a kind of corruption. But like I said, I think this inefficiency is a small price to pay for peace.
- valuearb 6y ago
  It doesn't lead to peace, it leads to terrible legislation hundreds of pages deep in special gifts to special interests at a huge cost to our economy.
valuearb 6y ago
Earmarks and pork are nothing other than corruption. The SLS is the clearest example. US taxpayers have invested close to $20B in a launch system that was outdated the day it was designed and will literally cost 100 times more per pound than commercially available launch systems. The first reason it's so costly is that the US congress required it to use solid rocket boosters, which increase launch risks, and substantially increase launch costs. The second reason the SLS is so costly is that congress required it to use RS-25 engines, which were some of the most expensive rocket engines ever designed, originally costing $45M a pop. They were so expensive because they were used on the Shuttle and had to be refurbished between launches instead of expended (destroyed) every launch. But not only will the RS-25s used on the SLS be expended every launch, Aeroject is getting $100M(!) each to build new ones. And it forced the SLS to use one of the worst possible first stage fuels, Hydrogen, which requires carrying a massively heavy cryogenic tank, construction of has held up launches for years, By contrast, each SpaceX Merlin which has roughly half the thrust of an RS-25 costs around $500,000 to build, 200 TIMES LESS! And uses a far more compact and effective first stage fuel.

valuearb 6y ago

LOL Earmarks clearly still exist, just under different names, and have always been used solely for corrupt purposes. Pork barrel spending is a huge price to pay for enabling national legislators to agree to legislation that's clearly bad for the country as a whole, in order to fund projects for their political supports. And most social security payments go to people with living standards at or above the US median.