British plan substantial military cuts to close budget gap

[gabosaurus]

Are you listening, Obama? You should be. We need a 30 percent cut in military and defense spending. Starting with the overwhelming bloat that is Pentagon bureaucracy and defense contractors.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-britain-military-20101020,0,7437908.story

[Noir]

Yep, and it won't just be defense (which is about 2% of our budget) but all sectors except Health and Overseas Aid are going to be cut by 15-25%. It's a good start :3

Are you also hoping Obama is listening to our cuts in all public spending (Eduction, policing, social housing etc) While increasing taxes?

[KarlMarx]

Are you listening, Obama? You should be. We need a 30 percent cut in military and defense spending. Starting with the overwhelming bloat that is Pentagon bureaucracy and defense contractors.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-britain-military-20101020,0,7437908.story

Gabosaurus.... for your information, Obama, through SecDef Gates is already planning on cutting the defense budget by 100 billion dollars per year over the next 5 years. That's a 15 percent reduction in expenditures.

And for your information ... since I work for a defense contractor... the incredible bloat as you call it... goes to developing technology and employing people.

Those drones that Obama is so fond of using? Those are over a million dollars a piece. That's because of all of the technology that goes into them and the infrastructure that supports it.

Stealth bombers and stealth figthers cost several billion each. That's because the technology to develop and maintain them is costly.

Those smart missiles that can hit a target the size of a small car when launched from 1000 miles away? Those cost several million a piece....

And what have we gained by that "needless bloat" as you call it? Lives. The lives of our servicemen, the lives of innocent civilians.

Those smart weapons are the reason why we win wars, they are the reason that "only" 4000 soldiers lost their lives during the Iraqi war.

Our enemies are developing weapons to hurt us. A lot of those weapons are now cyberweapons in the form of viruses, trojans, malware,etc...

The latest virus that hit your computer is more likely to have been developed by foreign intelligence than a teenage hacker. The Pentagon has been given the task of defending us against those too.

And oh by the way... did I say that those defense contracts provide jobs? Jobs for thousands of people who have to account in great detail how they spend their time. We are audited on a regular basis, we have to prove that we spent a half hour working on contract A and an hour on contract B.

I could go to jail for mischarging on my timecard or my expense report....

I'd like to see where else the government exercises such oversight of the money it spends.

My brother, my friends, and thousands of others, many of whom graduated from the top engineering schools in this country are now out of work because of Barak Obama's decision to cut back the military....

If ever there was a stimulus, defense is it.... in many small towns across the country, many people make their bread and butter making weapons systems to defend our country... and those people spend money in their small towns which helps to bolster the economies of those small towns.... and they give money to charities and the arts because they have those jobs....

I should know, because I work for a Defense Contractor in a small town and I am witnessing first hand what defense cutbacks do....

It's easy for you to say "cut defense".... but the next time a soldier dies, the next time we are attacked as we were on 9/11, the next time we can't rescue Americans who are held hostage (as was the case in 1980 when Iran took Americans hostage, but our hamstrung defense was too ill equipped to rescue them).... then you'll know what those defense cuts mean....

The Defense Department is the one part of the government that has to do its job and do it well... because if they don't the country ceases to exist....

think about that

[Kathianne]

Are you listening, Obama? You should be. We need a 30 percent cut in military and defense spending. Starting with the overwhelming bloat that is Pentagon bureaucracy and defense contractors.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-britain-military-20101020,0,7437908.story

Get the fed out of education. No reason for energy. Condense all police powers into homeland security and put into one building or cut that 'overarching' dept.

[KarlMarx]

The 2010 federal budget big hitters are:

1. Social Security - $677 Billion
2. Defense - $663 Billion
3. "Other" mandatory spending - $571 Billion
4. Medicare - $453 Billion
5. Medicaid - $290 Billion
6. Interest on the debt - $164 Billion

Social Security is the largest single budget item and it is going to get much larger with time... as will Medicare and Medicaid... between those three 1.2 Trillion dollars is being spent. I wonder what the "other mandatory spending" is and what makes it mandatory

[Pagan]

1. Substantially cut our overseas bases, it's time Country's who compete with us economically protect themselves.

2. Slash foreign aid 75%

3. Require ANYONE on public assistance show proof of U.S. Citizenship

4. Slash Government by 50% over the next 5 years starting with dissolving retirement plans for elected officials, it's a Civic duty NOT a career.

I'd say we'd pretty much cut our debt significantly with just those actions alone and would be a good start.

[Noir]

Well our budget has been announced, (well officially a 'spending review')
Will post details later, but effectively every departement has been cut (some by as much as 30% or more)

But as a mini-win, Science spending will remain fixed, while it will not increase with inflation and so will fall in real terms, but the cash amount will remain the same :)

[KarlMarx]

Well our budget has been announced, (well officially a 'spending review')
Will post details later, but effectively every departement has been cut (some by as much as 30% or more)

But as a mini-win, Science spending will remain fixed, while it will not increase with inflation and so will fall in real terms, but the cash amount will remain the same :)

According an article on Drudge Report, up to 500,000 government positions may be eliminated by 2015

[Pagan]

According an article on Drudge Report, up to 500,000 government positions may be eliminated by 2015

Add a zero to that figure and that's what we should be doing this year.

[Noir]

According an article on Drudge Report, up to 500,000 government positions may be eliminated by 2015

Yeah, a photo was taken of a Danny Alexander (2nd in command at the treasuary) in his car carrying internal documents that said that, added to the losses that have already taken place its over three quarters of a million

blown up section of the pic -
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/10/19/article-1321842-0BAD5E94000005DC-852_296x100.jpg

[Little-Acorn]

British plan substantial military cuts to close budget gap

What will those British do the next time some European country makes war against them for the third time in the last hundred years, and they find the United States is too broke due to its own socialism, to rescue them this time?

[Noir]

British plan substantial military cuts to close budget gap

What will those British do the next time some European country makes war against them for the third time in the last hundred years, and they find the United States is too broke due to its own socialism, to rescue them this time?

So you'd say we should keep spending money we don't have, incase there's another war?

[Kathianne]

So you'd say we should keep spending money we don't have, incase there's another war?

No, I wouldn't tell another country what to do. However, I'd keep in mind the folks that failed to pay their $75 fire protection fee. The US should most definitely keep that in mind. Not just UK mind you, all able countries that have cut or are planning on cutting on defense, figuring it's 'unnecessary.'