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Public defense spending is about on par with public educational spending (if you factor in private spending education on college education then education wins o

Public defense spending is about on par with public educational spending (if you factor in private spending education on college education then education wins out). Additionally, the total of pension, health care, and welfare spending trumps defense spending by a factor of nearly 3.5x to 1. It's simply not correct to fantasize that our government is exclusively military focused to the exclusion of all else, defense spending is quite large but it's not enormous compared to the equal or greater public spending priorities of education, health, pensions, etc. http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/year_spending_2013USbn_14bs1n_2010000102#usgs302 http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/year_spending_2013USbn_1...

benpbenp 14y ago
I just discovered that site while looking into this question as well. It seems really useful. Here are two charts that backup your point further. Education since 1900: http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/spending_chart_1900_2015USp_14s1li011lcn_20t http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/spending_chart_1900_2015... Defense since 1792: http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/spending_chart_1792_2015USp_14s1li011lcn_30f_Defense_Spending_Spikes http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/spending_chart_1792_2015... In particular, it is worth noting how low military spending was before WWII. I would be very interested to find similar charts for all world powers going back to ancient times, if anyone can help.
D9u 14y ago
Your own linked to site lists the following expenditures by the US federal government: Pensions = 24% Health Care = 24% Defense = 23% Welfare = 12% Interest = 6% Other Spending = 4% Transportation = 3% Education = 3% Protection = 2% General Government = 1% http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/piechart_2013_US_fed http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/piechart_2013_US_fed Who's fantasizing here? Of course, these figures don't include so-called "black budgets" for such things as CIA/DEA/etc "front companies" from which these agencies generate & draw funds without congressional oversight.
- InclinedPlane 14y ago
  You're being intellectually dishonest, it's not cool. The vast majority of educational spending is at the local and state level, the vast majority of defense spending is at the federal level. If you look at the totals of spending across all levels (federal, state, local) you can see how close the spending levels for education and defense are. The numbers are even summed for you.
  - D9u 14y ago
    Who is being "intellectually dishonest?" When you refer to "our government," I automatically assume that you mean the federal government, as I'm unsure of whether you reside in the same state as I, or not. I was referring to the federal government, and the amounts spent are consistent with the claims made above. Were the federal government to spend as much on education as is spent on defense our nation wouldn't be as "dumbed-down" as we presently are. In my state the schools are dilapidated, and teachers are underpaid, which results in high school graduates who are barely literate. However, our police are well paid, well equipped, and well funded, a good portion of which is from federal sources. My state receives roughly 29% (44th in the nation) of its funding from the federal government, and spends 25% of the total state budget on education. Of the amount spent on education, 68% goes to salaries & pensions. If the federal government spent more on education, the respective states would be able to increase their spending on education, which is what I believed this thread to be about.
    - arrrg 14y ago
      In the US education is handled by the states while military is handled on the federal level. To look only at the federal level when talking about education doesn’t even make sense. You are a dishonest and clumsy ideologue that bends the facts to his or her will, selling a distorted picture of reality. Maybe you want education to be handled on the federal level. That’s a valid position to take – but it still wouldn’t make sense to then only look at federal spending on education to compare it with military spending.
      - 14y ago
gnosis 14y ago
Another perspective, from the War Resistors League[0]: Where your income tax money really goes: * Total Outlays (Federal Funds): $2,650 billion * MILITARY: 54% and $1,449 billion * NON-MILITARY: 46% and $1,210 billion "'Current military' includes Dept. of Defense ($653 billion), the military portion from other departments ($150 billion), and an additional $162 billion to supplement the Budget’s misleading and vast underestimate of only $38 billion for the "war on terror." "Past military" represents veterans’ benefits plus 80% of the interest on the debt.[1] These figures are from an analysis of detailed tables in the "Analytical Perspectives" book of the Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2009. The figures are federal funds, which do not include trust funds -- such as Social Security -- that are raised and spent separately from income taxes. What you pay (or don’t pay) by April 15, 2008, goes to the federal funds portion of the budget. The government practice of combining trust and federal funds began during the Vietnam War, thus making the human needs portion of the budget seem larger and the military portion smaller." [0] - http://www.warresisters.org/pages/piechart.htm http://www.warresisters.org/pages/piechart.htm [1] - "Analysts differ on how much of the debt stems from the military; other groups estimate 50% to 60%. We use 80% because we believe if there had been no military spending most (if not all) of the national debt would have been eliminated. For further explanation, please see box at bottom of page."
- hexis 14y ago
  How does it work out when you figure in State, County, and Local spending?
jessriedel 14y ago
The government is not the people. Public spending is not the country's spending.

benpbenp 14y ago

I just discovered that site while looking into this question as well. It seems really useful. Here are two charts that backup your point further. Education since 1900: http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/spending_chart_1900_2015USp_14s1li011lcn_20t http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/spending_chart_1900_2015... Defense since 1792: http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/spending_chart_1792_2015USp_14s1li011lcn_30f_Defense_Spending_Spikes http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/spending_chart_1792_2015... In particular, it is worth noting how low military spending was before WWII. I would be very interested to find similar charts for all world powers going back to ancient times, if anyone can help.

D9u 14y ago

Your own linked to site lists the following expenditures by the US federal government: Pensions = 24% Health Care = 24% Defense = 23% Welfare = 12% Interest = 6% Other Spending = 4% Transportation = 3% Education = 3% Protection = 2% General Government = 1% http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/piechart_2013_US_fed http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/piechart_2013_US_fed Who's fantasizing here? Of course, these figures don't include so-called "black budgets" for such things as CIA/DEA/etc "front companies" from which these agencies generate & draw funds without congressional oversight.

InclinedPlane 14y ago
You're being intellectually dishonest, it's not cool. The vast majority of educational spending is at the local and state level, the vast majority of defense spending is at the federal level. If you look at the totals of spending across all levels (federal, state, local) you can see how close the spending levels for education and defense are. The numbers are even summed for you.
- D9u 14y ago
  Who is being "intellectually dishonest?" When you refer to "our government," I automatically assume that you mean the federal government, as I'm unsure of whether you reside in the same state as I, or not. I was referring to the federal government, and the amounts spent are consistent with the claims made above. Were the federal government to spend as much on education as is spent on defense our nation wouldn't be as "dumbed-down" as we presently are. In my state the schools are dilapidated, and teachers are underpaid, which results in high school graduates who are barely literate. However, our police are well paid, well equipped, and well funded, a good portion of which is from federal sources. My state receives roughly 29% (44th in the nation) of its funding from the federal government, and spends 25% of the total state budget on education. Of the amount spent on education, 68% goes to salaries & pensions. If the federal government spent more on education, the respective states would be able to increase their spending on education, which is what I believed this thread to be about.
  - arrrg 14y ago
    In the US education is handled by the states while military is handled on the federal level. To look only at the federal level when talking about education doesn’t even make sense. You are a dishonest and clumsy ideologue that bends the facts to his or her will, selling a distorted picture of reality. Maybe you want education to be handled on the federal level. That’s a valid position to take – but it still wouldn’t make sense to then only look at federal spending on education to compare it with military spending.
    - 14y ago

gnosis 14y ago

Another perspective, from the War Resistors League[0]: Where your income tax money really goes: * Total Outlays (Federal Funds): $2,650 billion * MILITARY: 54% and $1,449 billion * NON-MILITARY: 46% and $1,210 billion "'Current military' includes Dept. of Defense ($653 billion), the military portion from other departments ($150 billion), and an additional $162 billion to supplement the Budget’s misleading and vast underestimate of only $38 billion for the "war on terror." "Past military" represents veterans’ benefits plus 80% of the interest on the debt.[1] These figures are from an analysis of detailed tables in the "Analytical Perspectives" book of the Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2009. The figures are federal funds, which do not include trust funds -- such as Social Security -- that are raised and spent separately from income taxes. What you pay (or don’t pay) by April 15, 2008, goes to the federal funds portion of the budget. The government practice of combining trust and federal funds began during the Vietnam War, thus making the human needs portion of the budget seem larger and the military portion smaller." [0] - http://www.warresisters.org/pages/piechart.htm http://www.warresisters.org/pages/piechart.htm [1] - "Analysts differ on how much of the debt stems from the military; other groups estimate 50% to 60%. We use 80% because we believe if there had been no military spending most (if not all) of the national debt would have been eliminated. For further explanation, please see box at bottom of page."

hexis 14y ago
How does it work out when you figure in State, County, and Local spending?

jessriedel 14y ago

The government is not the people. Public spending is not the country's spending.