Some gray eminence named Polk said the following:
But a part of the answer to our growing debt is our militarism: Our current Military budget is $541 billion. That is 58 cents of every dollar spent by US Government and it is more than combined defense budgets of all other countries and more than our combined spending on education, environment protection, justice administration, veterans benefits, housing assistance, transportation, job training, agricultural support, energy and economic development assistance.
Actually it's not 58 cents of every dollar. It's more like 16 or 17 cents. The facts are here. It's sad that the cat is so wrong, because he makes efforts at making good points elsewhere, even in the same paragraph. Aside from the point that we spend more than any other country it is because we're bigger than any other country, as a percentage of GDP we don't spend more than 4%.
But what if we spent more on environement protection, justice administration and all the other goodies that we might... Let's just make a simple distinction shall we? Let us distinguish between those monies that are spent, and those that are invested.
First of all, let us agree never to say 'invest in health care'. That is because no matter how much you spend,..well people aren't going to live that much longer than they do. Secondly, let us consider our ability to make things happen. Simply because there is money to be spent doesn't mean you generate the capability of the ends you wish to achieve.
Think of it this way. We already know how to make a car go 120mph. If you have let your car go without proper maintenance and it can barely do 80 then you can invest in a bigger engine. It's an investment that is very likely to payoff because we know how to do it. Not only that we have lots of people who know how to do build that engine, install it, test it and certify that it will make your car do 120. But even if you spend two times as much money, there is no way that you are going to get your car to go 240mph. That would be spending, or just a foolish 'investment'. It's throwing money at a problem without thinking through it. Of course there are cars that go 240mph, but they are a fundamentally different kind of car, and the people who make these cars are fundamentally different, more expert and rare than the guys down at the local Firestone shop.
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