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> I'd rather they just lower our taxes and quit squandering our money on these programs that never work. Would you support cutting military spending? It's a lo

> I'd rather they just lower our taxes and quit squandering our money on these programs that never work. Would you support cutting military spending? It's a lot higher than other countries.

WalterBright 3mo ago
> It's a lot higher than other countries. That's because the US also defends the free world. Besides, not spending enough on the military can get very, very expensive.
- deaux 3mo ago
  > That's because the US also defends the free world. The US invasions of Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Iraq have sure helped defend the free world. How many trillions went into those combined? Fantastic return per $ of "free world defense".
  - paulddraper 3mo ago
    Don’t forget Ukraine!
    - deaux 3mo ago
      Unfortunately Ukraine too is a rounding error compared to the invasions. It's negligible compared to Afghanistan on its own, let alone if you include Iraq.
  - WalterBright 3mo ago
    Consider all the US bases in Europe, there to defend Europe against Russia. And the bases in the Pacific and Japan. Greenland, too! When I lived in Germany in the 70s, we were driving on the Autobahn one day, and I saw a jet hedgehopping at full blast over the countryside. I asked my dad what was going on, and why didn't the Germans complain about it. (Hedgehopping is how you avoid radar detection.) He replied that the Germans didn't particularly like it, but they understood the reason for it. We were in Wiesbaden because my dad worked on the US base and their job was to ensure that there wasn't going to be nuclear combat toe to toe with the Russkies. Later on, we lived near Luke AFB in Arizona, where Luftwaffe pilots were trained. I'd ride my bike out to the flight line and watch those glorious F-104s blast off with their afterburners lit up.
    - deaux 3mo ago
      I did consider those. The cost of the overseas bases is a rounding error compared to the invasions.
diogenescynic 3mo ago
Definitely and we should have affordable universal healthcare and subsidized state university tuition. Everything else should be cut as much as possible. I don't see any programs that are working well.

> I'd rather they just lower our taxes and quit squandering our money on these programs that never work. Would you support cutting military spending? It's a lot higher than other countries.

WalterBright 3mo ago

> It's a lot higher than other countries. That's because the US also defends the free world. Besides, not spending enough on the military can get very, very expensive.

deaux 3mo ago
> That's because the US also defends the free world. The US invasions of Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Iraq have sure helped defend the free world. How many trillions went into those combined? Fantastic return per $ of "free world defense".
- paulddraper 3mo ago
  Don’t forget Ukraine!
  - deaux 3mo ago
    Unfortunately Ukraine too is a rounding error compared to the invasions. It's negligible compared to Afghanistan on its own, let alone if you include Iraq.
- WalterBright 3mo ago
  Consider all the US bases in Europe, there to defend Europe against Russia. And the bases in the Pacific and Japan. Greenland, too! When I lived in Germany in the 70s, we were driving on the Autobahn one day, and I saw a jet hedgehopping at full blast over the countryside. I asked my dad what was going on, and why didn't the Germans complain about it. (Hedgehopping is how you avoid radar detection.) He replied that the Germans didn't particularly like it, but they understood the reason for it. We were in Wiesbaden because my dad worked on the US base and their job was to ensure that there wasn't going to be nuclear combat toe to toe with the Russkies. Later on, we lived near Luke AFB in Arizona, where Luftwaffe pilots were trained. I'd ride my bike out to the flight line and watch those glorious F-104s blast off with their afterburners lit up.
  - deaux 3mo ago
    I did consider those. The cost of the overseas bases is a rounding error compared to the invasions.

diogenescynic 3mo ago

Definitely and we should have affordable universal healthcare and subsidized state university tuition. Everything else should be cut as much as possible. I don't see any programs that are working well.