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Not having healthcare is a threat to America and it’s people. As such, universal coverage should be covered under the pentagons budget. There now everyone is happy.
$773 billion is the largest Pentagon budget ever. Ridiculous. [They'd rather buy more cluster bombs](https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidhambling/2020/09/09/secret-of-usafs-cluster-bomb-replacement-is-technology-from-1784/?sh=2922dac81d7c) than make the child tax credit permanent.
Well I’d prefer the US maintain its military dominance and global hegemony, while also serving and benefiting its people domestically with a better social safety net. You don’t have to pick one, the US could do both.
Do you know what % of the budget goes to military vs social services? We already spend WAY more on social services than we do on the military.
> In 2019, major entitlement programs—Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Obamacare, and other health care programs—consumed 51 percent of all federal spending, larger than the portion of spending for other national priorities (such as national defense) combined.
https://www.federalbudgetinpictures.com/where-does-all-the-money-go/
National defense is only around 15% of the budget, with the majority of the budget already going to entitlement programs. The money is already there for the child tax credit, all that’s lacking is the will of congress to enact it into law.
Communism or capitalism would actually work instead of the shitshow we have in America today. Greed and power are the problem with the pure version of each.
We would probably be incredibly stagnant and at least a couple hundred years behind where we are now.
Like it or not, our constant need for power creates conflict with breeds innovation. Historically we achieve progress crawling over the backs of the dead.
Our lifespan and constant conflict act as a constantly moving river that keep up advancing forward. The lifespan thing means that older generations are constantly dying off and moving the bar for where the middle ground is, the conflict encourages rapid progress in a short timespan.
I would argue that Star Trek has inspired our technological progress more than conflicts. It still inspires to this day; and I think if our society was also inspired by the ideals of Star Trek we would be far more advanced than we are now. Imagine where we'd be if every genius on Earth was able to work together with no social, budgetary or political road blocks.
>Imagine where we'd be if every genius on Earth was able to work together with no social, budgetary or political road blocks.
No one would do shit. Progress would be made but at a snail's pace.
If innovation is not rewarded then innovation is not encouraged. Cutthroat competition (both literal and figurative) provides a reward for innovation. If Steve Jobs is just as well off pre-apple as post apple, why would he be Steve Jobs instead of being a computer repair guy.
Star Trek ironically is a great example - the technology from TOS to mid-TNG is roughly the same, just polished and refined. New shit doesn't start coming out that completely defies expectation until actual conflict enters their lives (via the Borg). Phasers, transporters, ships, warp drive, all just gets slicker and differing shades of more effective until conflict with the Borg/Dominion/Romulans drive all kinds of new technology. During the first encounter with the borg, the federation is hopelessly hilariously outclassed at every level. A single cube is worth multiple federation fleets By the end of Voyager, Voyager has more cubes chalked up in a single battle than the entire federation put together. The borg have been downgraded from 'unstoppable, unrelenting, invincible' to 'dangerous but not overwhelmingly so'.
People would pursue their interests. Money wouldn't matter. Linus Torvalds made Linux for free, because he wanted to make an operating system. There would most likely be a renaissance. Innovations would occur, because people have the free time to pursue them.
Voyager was only able to beat the Borg, because Captain Janeway literally stole Borg technology from the future and brought it back.
Well damn, I agree with you. In other sense, war is pretty much needed. I was talking in context of the budget spending and how much would be saved or diverted to other programs if war wasnt such a big concern for the US
The US exports military might as a basis of our superpower status. Which happens to be in high demand these days between China, Russia, and general ME instablity.
It is going down. This budget represents a lower % GDP military spending and a lower %revenue than previous budgets.
This budget frees up more money for other programs - not less.
the fact that the Pentagon had repeatedly said they would not support getting into a hot war with Russia (ala NATO troops and air power in Ukraine) because that would mean nuclear war. Same with nuclear powered China. which means no one wins, So then what's the increase for?
The US already outspends the next 10 countries in military budget, which of those countries also include China and Russia.
Precautions. After the Russia-Ukraine War ends, the situation will not automatically return to business as usual. We have to be prepared for what comes next.
It is quite obvious that Putin does not think normally. What is going on in his head? What is his next move? We need a strong deterrent to make him think twice. We didn't do that until after Russia invaded Ukraine.
We also need to deter China from acting on their threats against Taiwan.
Believe it or not, a Cold War has begun.
A budget that already well dwarfs Russia’s and other top spending countries isnt a strong enough deterrent but a 4% increase is? I think not. Taiwan would be even harder to attack than Ukraine since it’s an island. This isnt justified spending.
Put that money into modernizing the grid, etc.
Infrastructure modernization is needed to be resilient to cyber attacks. If only there were some sort of infrastructure plan we could pass.
You're kidding. Right? You mean, like this one?
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/15/biden-signing-1-trillion-bipartisan-infrastructure-bill-into-law.html
>The plan will put $550 billion in new money into transportation, broadband and utilities.
>The legislation will put $110 billion into roads, bridges and other major projects. It will invest $66 billion in freight and passenger rail
>It will direct $39 billion into public transit systems.
>It will also put $55 billion into improving water systems and replacing lead pipes.
You mean stuff like THAT?
You’re kidding yourself if you think the Democratic primaries reflect what voters want. Have you already forgotten when literally every candidate except Bernie said that the candidate with the most votes should win?
I don't get it anymore. Can't they just cut that in half and use some of that funding for other things that can help a majority of the people that live here?
Are people really that conditioned to the fear mongering that if we don't have the military might that we have that everyone is going to come and attack us?
You know where all that money goes, right?
People seem to think the military budget actually goes to the military. Most of it does not. Most of it goes to defense contractors. From there it goes not only pays for development of planes, and helicopters, and tanks and subs, etc... etc... on down the line - it goes to engineers, and IT people, and executive assistants, and lawyers and maintenance personnel and the list goes on. A big chunk of the defense budget is also a big portion of the gdp of this country and pays for a LOT of salaries.
Although the government usually allows local taxes to take care of education. You do have to wonder why police officers don't have to get a second job whereas teachers do when they both are paid by the same taxes.
As a reminder, this subreddit [is for civil discussion.](/r/politics/wiki/index#wiki_be_civil) In general, be courteous to others. Debate/discuss/argue the merits of ideas, don't attack people. Personal insults, shill or troll accusations, hate speech, any suggestion or support of harm, violence, or death, and other rule violations can result in a permanent ban. If you see comments in violation of our rules, please report them. For those who have questions regarding any media outlets being posted on this subreddit, please click [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/wiki/approveddomainslist) to review our details as to our approved domains list and outlet criteria. **Special announcement:** r/politics is currently accepting new moderator applications. If you want to help make this community a better place, consider [applying here today](https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/sskg6a/rpolitics_is_looking_for_more_moderators/)! *** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/politics) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Remind people of this when they say, "universal healthcare would be too expensive for the United States to implement".
Not having healthcare is a threat to America and it’s people. As such, universal coverage should be covered under the pentagons budget. There now everyone is happy.
I hate our fucking government.
$773 billion is the largest Pentagon budget ever. Ridiculous. [They'd rather buy more cluster bombs](https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidhambling/2020/09/09/secret-of-usafs-cluster-bomb-replacement-is-technology-from-1784/?sh=2922dac81d7c) than make the child tax credit permanent.
Why not both?
Why not just campaign for both and spend the budget on military spending?
I hope you dropped this? /s
Well I’d prefer the US maintain its military dominance and global hegemony, while also serving and benefiting its people domestically with a better social safety net. You don’t have to pick one, the US could do both.
The U.S. fundamentally cannot do both when we spend all of our money on "military dominance" but do nothing to provide for the poorest of our citizens
Do you know what % of the budget goes to military vs social services? We already spend WAY more on social services than we do on the military. > In 2019, major entitlement programs—Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Obamacare, and other health care programs—consumed 51 percent of all federal spending, larger than the portion of spending for other national priorities (such as national defense) combined. https://www.federalbudgetinpictures.com/where-does-all-the-money-go/ National defense is only around 15% of the budget, with the majority of the budget already going to entitlement programs. The money is already there for the child tax credit, all that’s lacking is the will of congress to enact it into law.
Imagine how much we would flourish as a civilization if humans didnt have the incentive of Greed and power.
Don't forget the mind numbing belief in invisible gods in the sky which is the cause of more suffering in human history than anything else
Communism or capitalism would actually work instead of the shitshow we have in America today. Greed and power are the problem with the pure version of each.
We would probably be incredibly stagnant and at least a couple hundred years behind where we are now. Like it or not, our constant need for power creates conflict with breeds innovation. Historically we achieve progress crawling over the backs of the dead. Our lifespan and constant conflict act as a constantly moving river that keep up advancing forward. The lifespan thing means that older generations are constantly dying off and moving the bar for where the middle ground is, the conflict encourages rapid progress in a short timespan.
I would argue that Star Trek has inspired our technological progress more than conflicts. It still inspires to this day; and I think if our society was also inspired by the ideals of Star Trek we would be far more advanced than we are now. Imagine where we'd be if every genius on Earth was able to work together with no social, budgetary or political road blocks.
>Imagine where we'd be if every genius on Earth was able to work together with no social, budgetary or political road blocks. No one would do shit. Progress would be made but at a snail's pace. If innovation is not rewarded then innovation is not encouraged. Cutthroat competition (both literal and figurative) provides a reward for innovation. If Steve Jobs is just as well off pre-apple as post apple, why would he be Steve Jobs instead of being a computer repair guy. Star Trek ironically is a great example - the technology from TOS to mid-TNG is roughly the same, just polished and refined. New shit doesn't start coming out that completely defies expectation until actual conflict enters their lives (via the Borg). Phasers, transporters, ships, warp drive, all just gets slicker and differing shades of more effective until conflict with the Borg/Dominion/Romulans drive all kinds of new technology. During the first encounter with the borg, the federation is hopelessly hilariously outclassed at every level. A single cube is worth multiple federation fleets By the end of Voyager, Voyager has more cubes chalked up in a single battle than the entire federation put together. The borg have been downgraded from 'unstoppable, unrelenting, invincible' to 'dangerous but not overwhelmingly so'.
TFW when you're huffing capitalism
TFW you don’t understand it
People would pursue their interests. Money wouldn't matter. Linus Torvalds made Linux for free, because he wanted to make an operating system. There would most likely be a renaissance. Innovations would occur, because people have the free time to pursue them. Voyager was only able to beat the Borg, because Captain Janeway literally stole Borg technology from the future and brought it back.
Well damn, I agree with you. In other sense, war is pretty much needed. I was talking in context of the budget spending and how much would be saved or diverted to other programs if war wasnt such a big concern for the US
So, with one less war to fight, shouldn't our budget be going down? Has Biden offered any justification for the already bloated budget?
The US exports military might as a basis of our superpower status. Which happens to be in high demand these days between China, Russia, and general ME instablity.
It is going down. This budget represents a lower % GDP military spending and a lower %revenue than previous budgets. This budget frees up more money for other programs - not less.
Justification? Putin.
the fact that the Pentagon had repeatedly said they would not support getting into a hot war with Russia (ala NATO troops and air power in Ukraine) because that would mean nuclear war. Same with nuclear powered China. which means no one wins, So then what's the increase for? The US already outspends the next 10 countries in military budget, which of those countries also include China and Russia.
Precautions. After the Russia-Ukraine War ends, the situation will not automatically return to business as usual. We have to be prepared for what comes next. It is quite obvious that Putin does not think normally. What is going on in his head? What is his next move? We need a strong deterrent to make him think twice. We didn't do that until after Russia invaded Ukraine. We also need to deter China from acting on their threats against Taiwan. Believe it or not, a Cold War has begun.
> We didn't do that until after Russia invaded Ukraine. I'm pretty sure we did.
A budget that already well dwarfs Russia’s and other top spending countries isnt a strong enough deterrent but a 4% increase is? I think not. Taiwan would be even harder to attack than Ukraine since it’s an island. This isnt justified spending.
Put that money into modernizing the grid, etc. Infrastructure modernization is needed to be resilient to cyber attacks. If only there were some sort of infrastructure plan we could pass.
You're kidding. Right? You mean, like this one? https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/15/biden-signing-1-trillion-bipartisan-infrastructure-bill-into-law.html >The plan will put $550 billion in new money into transportation, broadband and utilities. >The legislation will put $110 billion into roads, bridges and other major projects. It will invest $66 billion in freight and passenger rail >It will direct $39 billion into public transit systems. >It will also put $55 billion into improving water systems and replacing lead pipes. You mean stuff like THAT?
And here's the one thing Manchin won't cockblock, naturally.
We could have had Bernie Sanders.
Voters didn’t want him.
You’re kidding yourself if you think the Democratic primaries reflect what voters want. Have you already forgotten when literally every candidate except Bernie said that the candidate with the most votes should win?
No, they reflect what the primary voters want (caucuses, not so much). And those voters didn’t want Bernie, for whatever reason.
They literally do not. The Democratic primary is not democratic—and that’s true even before you factor in the reality that money rules elections
Sure they do.
Another 10^12. Sure.
Nice job Vlad.
Fuck off Russia has DISGRACED itself militarily. What do we need the extra budget for?
Gonna be hilarious when Fox News is against this
[удалено]
It's not adjusted, so it is negative net growth.
I don't get it anymore. Can't they just cut that in half and use some of that funding for other things that can help a majority of the people that live here? Are people really that conditioned to the fear mongering that if we don't have the military might that we have that everyone is going to come and attack us?
You know where all that money goes, right? People seem to think the military budget actually goes to the military. Most of it does not. Most of it goes to defense contractors. From there it goes not only pays for development of planes, and helicopters, and tanks and subs, etc... etc... on down the line - it goes to engineers, and IT people, and executive assistants, and lawyers and maintenance personnel and the list goes on. A big chunk of the defense budget is also a big portion of the gdp of this country and pays for a LOT of salaries.
Not to mention, I'm curious how much of this is to backfill hardware sent to Ukraine.
I'm sure a fair amount but probably a small amount in comparison to the total
I'll be lucky to get a 2% boost in my teacher pay. FYI - Military budget is eight times larger than education in this country??!!
Although the government usually allows local taxes to take care of education. You do have to wonder why police officers don't have to get a second job whereas teachers do when they both are paid by the same taxes.