Etiquette



DP Etiquette

First rule: Don't be a jackass.

Other rules: Do not attack or insult people you disagree with. Engage with facts, logic and beliefs. Out of respect for others, please provide some sources for the facts and truths you rely on if you are asked for that. If emotion is getting out of hand, get it back in hand. To limit dehumanizing people, don't call people or whole groups of people disrespectful names, e.g., stupid, dumb or liar. Insulting people is counterproductive to rational discussion. Insult makes people angry and defensive. All points of view are welcome, right, center, left and elsewhere. Just disagree, but don't be belligerent or reject inconvenient facts, truths or defensible reasoning.

Friday, June 24, 2022

Regarding the US military budget & federal debt

'Unconscionable': House Committee Adds $37 Billion 
to Biden's $813 Billion Military Budget

The proposed increase costs 10 times more than preserving the free school lunch program that Congress is allowing to expire "because it's 'too expensive,'" Public Citizen noted.

The Biden administration's March request for $813 billion in military spending for Fiscal Year 2023 already marked a $31 billion increase over the current, historically large sum of $782 billion.

During its markup of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the House Armed Services Committee approved by a 42-17 margin Rep. Jared Golden's (D-Maine) amendment to boost the topline budget by $37 billion.
One can reasonably imagine that the extra $37 billion is for Ukraine and the cost will be added to the federal debt. Things like this are what make the Democrats look too much like the Republicans for my taste. 

We get endless military spending by both parties with vast debt but Republican animosity toward domestic spending and taxes. Complaints always come from Republicans about debt to block domestic spending but never military spending. In large part, our out of control situation reflects the success of the Republican Starve the Beast strategy. Sooner or later the federal debt will come crashing down and most average Americans will experience great pain and suffering.

WikipediaStarving the beast is a political strategy employed by American conservatives to limit government spending by cutting taxes, in order to deprive the federal government of revenue in a deliberate effort to force it to reduce spending. The term "the beast", in this context, refers to the United States Federal Government and the programs it funds, using mainly American taxpayer dollars, particularly social programs such as education, welfare, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.


On the books debt = a shockingly unmanageable ~$30 trillion



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