Who says we need to continue this role? Do you REALLY think we do this to keep the world safe from pirates or Martians? We keep our fingers in the pie to control resources for our industries. The same reason we overthrow democracies and install military dictatorships like in Iran in 53, Guatemala in 54 The Dominican Republic and Brazil in 64 and Chile in 73. Also a huge portion of what we spend on the Pentagon is just a hidden subsidy to high tech industries. The Pentagon KNOWS this.

We are not any weaker due to these cuts, and if that one response was in response to somethign I said that is misconstruing my points.

had enough: Much of the defense spending does go to “we the people,”–only they wear a uniform and have families of their own. Its not all more bombs and high-tech gismos. A lot of it is barracks, family housing, education centers for children, rehibilitation facilities for the wounded, veteran facilities, etc.. Also, most “defense contractors” are not these blackwater types. They are consultants that are paid to fill government civilian jobs–it is not wasteful spending in those cases as it is a necessity and in some cases an improvement to government bureaucracy.

I think it is a travesty that we are the only industrialized nation without universal healthcare, but I also believe that we spend more through our defense budget because our military is engaged around the world, doing peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance, and yes fighting wars that have been costly and misguided–unfortunately. Other countries cannot assume the role we do in the world. How do we continue that role, and develop our own society is the question–gates is taking good steps to start trimming unnecessary programs and reallocating funds. He is not cutting spending though

Tombaker & Had enough: Also, I would look at this. No the United States does not spend 50% of its budget on defense. It does however spend more than all other industrialized nations combined. http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2008/pdf/hist.pdf see table 8.2. Tombaker, you should take it easy.

Inhofe’s unfavorables are high, even in Oklahoma, but he wins re-election because he ruthlessly and dishonestly (oh, yeah, he’s going to hell) demonizes his opponents, and he brings home the pork. Even in the Bush years, the DoD tried once or twice to kill the NLOS-C, and Inhofe always led the charge to protect it because it’s a huge win for his state.

I’m not saying he’s not evil, but if you’re going to game plan how to overcome his obstructionism, you need to consider the old-fashioned political angle as well.

…his wife better hope he stays away from the poker tables.

here is the break down I asked you for.

This is one of the sources used from this site to showing the public we do indeed spend over 50% of our tax dollars on defense.

It is about time more of our tax dollars went towards We the People rather than building more bombs and paying defense contractors.

18,000 to 40,000 Americans die each year due to no access of health care… not the elderly or disabled who receive medicare.

Why should we be the only industrialized country with no universal health care and at the same time spend more on defense than any other country?… all countries put together(?)

I would take the word of an independent auditor over the word of a employee auditor every time, provided both had equal access to the same set of data.

Over and above that, the only alarming thing about the “new DoD budget” is that it remains far higher than necessary, primarily because of the previous administration’s unnecessary and unplanned misadventures.

The “on-topic” bottom line on this thing is that Mr. Inhofe and others are exhibiting a hysterical and disproportionate, politically-calculated response to a perfectly reasonable budget, crafted by a SecDef appointed by whom?

Or am I to assume Mr. Inhofe and the others all stood up in opposition to Mr. Gates’ nomination?

After years of hearing about cooked books and off-budget programs (and “supplemental” spending bills) concocted by our government-run-by-MBA’s, is it really such a stretch to liken certain agencies of the government to some of our “corporate citizens”?

Where is the break down of numbers from your link http://www.gao.gov/financial/fy2008/08stmt.pdf

Is it on the page that states:

Waiting for your reply.

Had enough: get your numbers right instead of going to retarded sites for the info. It is not 50%. Please read the below link any OBM document or CBO document on the matter–not a leftist ant-war blog site.
Also, the other industrialized nations of the world live under the umbrella of the united states providing security.

I will stick to my numbers that 50% of our tax dollars goes to defense.

I glanced through your link, a multi page pdf booklet and found no actual break down of numbers… and written in the Bush years…. of course.

Remember the lack of body armor under Rumsfeld?

WASHINGTON (CNN) — The Pentagon is $295 billion over budget on dozens of key programs and taking more time to deliver the systems to the front lines, according to a report released by a government watchdog agency [GAO]

The cost overruns mean the Pentagon is spending just over $118 for every $100 it budgeted. [295 billion over budget]