The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
    oleeb's picture

    The Obscenity Of US Military Spending

    By oleeb on Wed, 02/03/2010 - 1:56pm |

     

    This chart is all the more appalling because it is two years out of date!  Obama just proposed a military budget for the coming year of $744 Billion!  Just look at how extremely disproportionate US military spending is compared to the rest of the world.

    Those who love their country and who love humanity must demand a halt to this outrageous, totally unjustifiable waste of resources.  Our biggest national investment is in killing human beings.  God help us and God forgive us!

    You can find the chart above and more information at globalissues.org at the following url:

    http://www.globalissues.org/article/75/world-military-spending

     

    Comments

    Sorry about the two different sizes of fonts. I tried repeatedly to fix it but failed in the effort. The technical glitch, however, doesn't impact the content.


    by oleeb (not verified) on Wed, 02/03/2010 - 2:27pm

    Bless you for posting this, oleeb. Onward plowshare conservatives!


    by Watt Childress (not verified) on Wed, 02/03/2010 - 4:05pm

    Aye!


    by oleeb (not verified) on Wed, 02/03/2010 - 5:31pm

    Somehow, I missed your previous post on this topic. Don't know how that happened, but everyone who reads this one should definitely skip back and read that one too.

    Maybe it's because I was over at FDL trying to rally around the same issue. Someone over there flagged your post in the comment thread on my diary. So word is getting around.


    by Watt Childress (not verified) on Wed, 02/03/2010 - 7:31pm

    That's certainly nice to know. Thanks Watt!


    by oleeb (not verified) on Wed, 02/03/2010 - 8:08pm

    War. What is it good for? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. Edwin Starr

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_d8C4AIFgUg&feature=fvw

    The only' War,' that we as citizens of this world that we share and call 'Earth,' that we should be willing to take up our plowshares for, is the 'War on Poverty.'

    Thank you Oleeb.


    by letthesunshinein (not verified) on Wed, 02/03/2010 - 9:01pm

    A picture is worth a thousand words, Oleeb. Who can fail to get it after seeing your piece-of-the pie chart?


    by wwstaebler (not verified) on Wed, 02/03/2010 - 9:44pm

    Good pie.

    But if we cut spending on the military, will we have to cease and desist FROM ENTERING WARS THAT GO ON FOREVER?


    by dickday (not verified) on Wed, 02/03/2010 - 10:37pm

    I guess so DD. If we cut the war spending appropriately, the boys at the Pentagon and Lockheed and Boeing, and Blackwater, et al are gonna have to be told the party's over and so they'll have to go out now and look for honest work that doesn't harm human beings.


    by oleeb (not verified) on Thu, 02/04/2010 - 12:46am

    Even the $744 billion drastically understates the amount we spend on "defense"- it's more like $1 trillion, going up to $1.1 trillion in 2011.


    by johnpseudo (not verified) on Thu, 02/04/2010 - 12:54pm

    Right back atcha!


    by oleeb (not verified) on Thu, 02/04/2010 - 1:17pm

    You are right. It is, in truth, a much greater sum. Far too much.


    by oleeb (not verified) on Thu, 02/04/2010 - 1:18pm

    Barney Frank was talking about it in Davos; C-span had it up. I can't find the clip, but I'll check you-tube today. If anyone knows the best way to search C-span...
    Nice, Oleeb; depressing, but nice.


    by wendy davis (not verified) on Thu, 02/04/2010 - 2:09pm

    I still can't find the video, but here is a description: (from marketwatch, i think it was)

    DAVOS: Rep. Frank Urges Military Spending Cuts

    By Neal Lipschutz, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

    Davos, Switerland -(Dow Jones)- Rep. Barney Frank, D-MA, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Wednesday said sustained and substantial reductions in U.S. military spending is a key way to reduce huge federal fiscal deficits.

    Speaking on a panel at the World Economic Forum annual meeting here, Frank said the U.S. was engaged in two unnecessary wars while the previous administration, under Republican President George W Bush, instituted tax cuts.

    He said the U.S. Pentagon shouldn't be the "fall back military of the world." The U.S. should scale back its global military aspirations.

    Under questioning, Frank said cutting military spending wasn't enough to solve the deficit problem. He cited federal agricultural subsidies as another area that could be cut.

    He said the inability to cut the federal deficit would result in a " devastation" of the government's ability to improve the quality of life of Americans.



    by wendy davis (not verified) on Thu, 02/04/2010 - 2:18pm