I agree. And while we’re putting domestic federal government workers on permanent leave, let’s bring home the million-plus troops and support personnal that we have stationed throughout the world. Think of the economic stimulus that influx would bring, as they take civilian jobs and create new businesses here in the U.S.
Although I think we certainly could do things more efficiently in the military, and sympathize with the sentiment, I am not sure closing down all the foreign bases is a good idea. I look at it as good versus evil. If you believe that the U.S. brings good (e.g. freedom) to the world and authoritarian regimes like Russian, China, and Iran bring oppression and despair, then it is good when the U.S. acts (projects power) as deterrent to aggression by those counties. Russia invades whenever it sees weakness in the the U.S. or Europe. The same largely holds true for China, although they will first try to dominate economically. However, they have not been massively building up their military just to watch it rust. In that light, abandoning the Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan, on the doorstep of China, was a strategic blunder and sign of weakness.
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I certainly don’t believe the U.S. brings freedom to the world. You aren’t free if the U.S. military pisses all over Ol’ Glory and everything she stands for when it attacks sovereign nations, bombs them, kills tens of thousands of civilians, assassinates leaders, imprisons those who resist, keeps POWs in perma-captivity, tortures human beings, then refuses to leave. Don’t forget who the bad guys are. North Korea and Iran aren’t invading other nations on the other side of the world. Our military does that. We need to be more like North Korea with regard to trespassing. Trespassers get shot because they are supposed to. Like your limbs? Stay off other people’s homelands. And quit borrowing from my kids to fund your trespassing.
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All of the signs are pointing to a Red Wave takeover of government by the Republican party which should lead to double digit gains in the market, no? 
Go Dollar and soar to even greater heights… 
If I were President, I could end all these wasteful, evil U.S. invasions in 30 days, forever.
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I think so.
Post of the year.
I see the U.S. government as the greatest military aggressor, as long as the Israeli lobby controls Congress. To stay in Congress, you have to virtually swear allegiance to Israel. There have been more than a few books written on the subject. JFK was attempting to force the Israeli government to register as a foreign lobby in Congress when he was assassinated.
Oh we are by far. And it costs us our children’s wealth. I could end this all instantly if I were President with one executive order. I could solve almost all of our problems, actually.
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I see two sides to this coin. Basically, is trillion dollar annual military budget necessary to maintain some balance in the world or to keep trade routes open? It dwarfs our enemies by far. And the big boys do not really fear us, do they? Putin went ahead with his plans and so will China…so now what?
As long as the money is spent on defense, I’m OK with over spending. It’s called the Department of Defense.
But attacking other sovereign nations is not defense. If I were president, I’d issue an executive order called “You go, you stay.” Your U.S. citizenship is revoked if you get caught obeying an order to invade another sovereign nation without a Declaration of War mandated by the Constitution that you took an oath to uphold. Bye! Wage all the war you want over there, just never come back. Keep the boots.
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While we certainly have made a ton of stupid mistakes militarily. However, I think the world would look a lot different if the U.S. were not there to resist the likes of Hitler, Stalin, Kim, the mullahs, and so forth. What you are saying, in essence, is that you are fine if China rules the world according to their values (i.e. if you disagree with the government, you quickly disappear). I know for sure that I do not want to be subject to that kind of tyranny.
Yes, the debt is obscene and is perhaps going to consume us from within someday soon. But, retreating from the world also has dire consequences. I, for one, think we can fix our financially problems without gutting the military.
You’ve got my vote.
Uh, Hitler was before I was born and our military had the Constitutionally-mandated Declaration of War. Stalin was our ally, not our enemy. Kim Jong Un never attacked anyone ever. I wish our military attacked as many other nations as North Korea does (that number is 0, btw). I don’t know anything about mullahs, but I certainly want the Taliban to succeed in expelling foreign armies from their lands. They expelled two super powers in my lifetime (the Red Army in the 80s and the U.S. military recently). Good for them. Our military can’t trick me by calling Afghan patriots… “insurgents.” Every man has a right and duty to kill foreign invaders.
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In terms of the long arc of history, it is all relevant and recent. If Hitler had not been stopped, he had designs on conquering the entire world and there was a decent chance that you would have grown up learning German instead of English. Stalin was only a temporary ally–we both needed to defeat Hitler. Both countries were angling for strategic advantages against each other with the outcome. North Korea DID attack South Korea (and would readily do so again). Al Qaeda DID attack us with the explicit support of the Taliban. We needed to go after Al Qaeda, and we did. Turning that simple mission into democracy for the Afghanistan people (an impossible mission) was the mistake that should not be repeated.
We need a military that is strong and we need better leaders and decision-making methodology on when and how to use that strength to deter bad actors. I just think we can have a strong-enough military for 60% of the current price tag.
Please name all the members of Congress that are controlled by the Israeli lobby.
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Name the ones that are not controlled by the Israeli lobby.
Wow! Well, you really got me with that reply. Shazam. I am so humiliated…
