HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY TO ONE AND ALL!
++++This may be only post today for I have a meeting with the radiologist and later my infusion so it is no telling how I will feel after. Sorry and I will bounce back as soon as possible.++++
Most of my regulars know that I am against the War Department having an almost trillion dollar budget….I believe we could be just as safe with a smaller budget for so-called defense.
I know I have been critical of Trump and his horde of minions but I will lighten up if he keeps a promise he has recently made….
President Trump told reporters on Thursday that he believes US military spending could eventually be cut in half and that he wants to pursue the idea as part of an agreement with Russia and China. He also said there was no reason to build new nuclear weapons.
“At some point, when things settle down, I’m going to meet with China and I’m going to meet with Russia, in particular those two, and I’m going to say there’s no reason for us to be spending almost $1 trillion on the military … and I’m going to say we can spend this on other things,” Trump said.
“When we straighten it all out, then one of the first meetings I want to have is with President Xi of China and President Putin of Russia, and I want to say let’s cut our military budget in half. And we can do that, and I think we’ll be able to do that,” he added.
The US spends significantly more on its military than Russia and China combined. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), in 2023, the US accounted for 37% of global military spending. China came in second but was still far behind, accounting for 12% of military spending, and Russia was in third at 4.5%.
Discussing nuclear weapons, Trump said, “There’s no reason for us to be building brand new nuclear weapons. We already have so many you could destroy the world 50 times over or 100 times over. And here we are building new nuclear weapons, and [Russia] is building new nuclear weapons, and China is building new nuclear weapons.”
Russia recently said the outlook was not good for the state of US arms control as the last nuclear arms control treaty between the two powers is due to expire in February 2026, and there’s currently no replacement. But Trump’s talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the Ukraine war could lead to arms control negotiations.
On the other hand, Trump also recently signed an executive order to build a major new missile defense system to cover the US and its military bases abroad, which could lead to a new arms race and will come with a huge price tag. Republicans in Congress are also looking to increase military spending by at least $100 billion.
(antiwar.com)
I say ‘Bravo’ to this statement….it has been needed for a very long time.
If he tries to make good on this I foresee the arms industry having a meltdown, after all they are making obscene profits from the current conditions.
Or is this just another of Trump’s idle promises that grab headlines and then dies from inaction?
If he is successful where will the ‘savings’ go?
I applaud this but I fear that it is not all it is cracked up to be.
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
It’s going to be interesting to see if he actually follows through on that.
He does have a point, though. Actually that’s the first thing he said since he took office that wasn’t an outright lie, the US spending on military is absolutely insane.
There are two reasons (well, more than two, but these two are the main ones) why spending went so nuts. One is that it looks good to the folks back home when it’s time for those sniveling weasels in Congress to run for office again. A lot of politicians, including a lot of Dems, have been using fear and paranoia to get themselves elected for decades. I can’t remember anyone winning an election by saying we need to actually cut the size of the military.
The second is that the Pentagon and Congress are addicted to these insanely expensive, high tech weapons programs that often just don’t work, or work so badly that they never meet their operational goals, like the F-35, the Navy’s littoral ship fiasco, etc. Congress loves these big ticket programs because it let’s a lot of them bring home great bundles of cash to their home districts for manufacturing or support services these programs require. All that yummy pork spending is tempting. Here in Wisconsin we have the shipbuilders up in Marinette and Oshkosh Truck, two major military contractors. I can tell you absolutely, positively, that anything that threatens spending for either of those two companies will be staunchly opposed by both our Dem and GOP senators, Baldwin and Johnson.
And, of course, any savings Trump is talking about isn’t going to be going back into the pockets of the tax payers, or to provide services we really need, or to pay down the debt. It will go right into the pockets of the 1% a tax cuts.
I will give him his kudos if he holds to this….but he promised eliminate Daylight Savings Time and I am still waiting on that…..chuq
Good luck at the radiologist!!
Thanx GP……have a great day chuq
There won’t be much savings, if any. We just won’t have go borrow as much money. We have been spending more than we take in as revenues. Cutting back expenses may, or may not, help but there are no good solutions.
Any savings will be squandered away. Have a good day chuq
Just to be sure and to find the numbers, I looked up the budget numbers. Our deficit is 1.7 trillion. Total defense spending is 872 million. Even if we cut out all defense spending we would still have to borrow money for the rest of the government expense. I don’t know how we are going to get out of the hole we are in without some kind of collapse.
We could make the wealthy pay taxes, cut war budget and see where that goes to making the deficit shrink. chuq
I hope it went well with the medical stuff. I reckon he will find something else as an excuse not to cut the budget. Like a new war somewhere…
Best wishes, Pete.
Will be starting a new round of radiation in a week or so….not looking forward to it…..It is good sentiment but these people will not do a thing. chuq