Military Spending, A Necessary Expense. In 2014 The United

The Department of Defense (DOD) reports that the United States spent about $168 billion (worth around

As citizens of the United States of America we must pay taxes to the government. The government takes these taxes and distributes them among different areas to fund each are; one of the highest percentages of spending goes to defense. The whopping amount of around 610 billion dollars makes the United States’ military the largest in the world, so large that its funding out-weighs the next seven highest spending countries. The problem with this is that the military does not really solve the large amount of very important domestic affairs; in fact we barely see the fruits of it. There are many reasons why we should cut down on the percentage spent on defense and focus more on other areas.

With the numbers totaled the defense budget is currently sitting at a solid 3.5 percent of our GDP and there are still questions on how much more we can put in to make this country safe. The White House is calling for more money to be spent on national defense and their economists say that the United States can withstand a gross spending of somewhere around 9 to 10 percent of our GDP. The money to pay for any

Overspending is a pertinent problem facing the lawmakers in Congress. In 2012 discretionary spending reached $1.3 trillion and mandatory spending $2 trillion, while only bringing in $2.5 trillion in revenue. Since the turn of the century back in 2000, non-mandatory spending by the government has topped out a whopping $16.1 trillion just in the past 13 years (Boccia, Frasser & Goff 2013). This persistent overspending on programs and services that are not necessary to the functionality of the country is what is causing the deficit to rise year after year. To remedy this issue the government must either increase the revenue it brings in through taxes and trade or reduce the amount of money it spend or perhaps even both. In 2012 thirty-one cents of every dollar that Washington spent was borrowed (Boccia, Frasser & Goff 2013). Most of which went to large programs such as Social Security and Medicare and if these large, growing programs, or just the budget in general, do not undergo financial reform it could spell disaster for the economy and fiscal state of the nation.

“The United States spent $598.5 billion dollars alone on the military in 2015. That is 54% of all spending in 2015. The US only spent $70 billion (6%) on education and $13.1 billion (1%) on food and agriculture.” (“Military Spending”). This shows what Americans really value.

The United States has spent so much money on the military that they have not taken much consideration into much else. This could put the United States into debt.

When World War II ended in 1949, the debt grew at a slow and steady pace for the next 20 years. When the Vietnam War began in the 1960's the debt accelerated sharply. Thanks to the growth of television and news media, growth of the deficit was widely publicized. For the first time, the American people were given access to what was going on with the nation's debt. When the Gulf War began the early 1990's, the national debt reached a trillion dollars for the first time. By the end of the Gulf War, the government decided to make amendments to fix the continuing problem with the deficit. Despite those promises to reduce spending, the debt is currently at it highest point ever.

The federal budget deficit is a much discussed and little understood subject in American politics. The current recession has dramatically decreased tax revenues, driving the United States federal government to increase spending in an attempt to stabilize the economy. As a result the current federal deficit is at over $1.3 trillion dollars. This is approximately $47,754 per U.S. citizen or $137,552 per U. S. taxpayer (U.S. Debt Clock: Real Time, 2012).

You may be asking yourself how america got in so much debt well it starts like this for example the capitol building ran out of light bulbs. The company selling them sells a 6 pack for five dollars, but since they are the government the lightbulb company charges them 30 dollars for it, but that's only 30 dollars compared to the 4 trillion dollar budget well add on buying overpriced paper, pens, pencils, tools, plans, ships, and

The United States is a country that revolves around money, yet is facing a $20 trillion national debt. The current issues of increasing healthcare costs, the Social Security fund, and military expenses are the main issues responsible for the debt. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was put into effect in 2010 and has become the major spender in the healthcare field. The Social Security fund is expected to be completely drained at the end of the year 2016, which will result in millions of Americans being cut short of receiving their full benefits. The United States military has become a major area to spend tax dollars on. As a result, the military budget has already begun receiving cuts in funding from maintenance and training. The solution to repairing this broken nation is simple; America must cut down salaries of the overpaid government workers. America must begin inciting business within the country to build itself back up from the tremendous debt it has taken on. The only way to recover is to bring more money into the nation than the amount of money that continues to leave. Without a solution enacted America will experience an economic collapse, devastating the country as a whole.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are winding down and that will help lower the defense spending by almost $1 trillion over the next decade. The congress is realizing that they need to do some restructuring and have already begun rearranging the military budget in response to austerity. Congress conjured up a $630 billion defense appropriations bill that made plans to reduce civilian and contractor personnel by 5 percent over the next five years and in return ramp up advanced weapons programs, including drones, bombers and missiles says The Washington Post. The American Conservative

For as long as Americans can remember there has always been a federal deficit. In fact, the only time in American history when there was no federal debt was under president Andrew Jackson, and it only lasted a single year(Wall Street Journal). The federal government never managed to pay off the debt again, although some administrations, like Coolidge’s and Clinton’s, have managed to run brief surpluses(Wall Street Journal). Yet today there seems to be no limit on the debt and deficit spending, and a key question has been pressed into the forefront of politics and fiscal policy, “is

     The United States’ enormous economy enables it to fund the most powerful armed forces in the world. The nation’s annual military spending averages at $369 billions as of 2002 on just national defenses (Greenberg 546). How many countries in the world today, can afford to fund this type of military spending yearly? The answer is none. The US currently owned the most highly technological advanced weapons in the world, capable of almost anything and can target any country with a press of a button. Although most country already acquired this type of technology, the US’s is still the more dominating and with the most abundant in warheads. More importantly, The United States

Throughout most of the country’s history, the United States’ federal government maintained a reasonable level of national debt. For example, the total national debt in 1981 was $998 billion. Since then, however, the government has generated significant budget deficits, and the level of debt has risen to $16.7 trillion in 2013 (Calleo, 39). Budget deficits are caused