The Safety Of Our Country

As citizens of the United States of America we must pay taxes to the government. The government takes these taxes and distributes them among different areas to fund each are; one of the highest percentages of spending goes to defense. The whopping amount of around 610 billion dollars makes the United States’ military the largest in the world, so large that its funding out-weighs the next seven highest spending countries. The problem with this is that the military does not really solve the large amount of very important domestic affairs; in fact we barely see the fruits of it. There are many reasons why we should cut down on the percentage spent on defense and focus more on other areas.

With the numbers totaled the defense budget is currently sitting at a solid 3.5 percent of our GDP and there are still questions on how much more we can put in to make this country safe. The White House is calling for more money to be spent on national defense and their economists say that the United States can withstand a gross spending of somewhere around 9 to 10 percent of our GDP. The money to pay for any

Something that I vehemently disagree on with both political parties is defense spending. In their platforms, both parties seem to favor an increase in funding, even if it is a bit more discretely worded under the Democratic Party’s platform. In my view, we allocate too much of our country’s resources to the military, and neglect many of its other needs in doing so. The United States military is by far and away the most puissant armed organization in the world. Here are some figures that help illustrate just how pragmatic that last statement is. In the 2015 fiscal year we spent 598 billion dollars on the military; that’s over fifty percent of the federal government’s discretionary spending.(1) In 2016, only 19 of 194 nations had a higher GDP than America’s defense budget; that means that the U.S. spends more money per year on its military than the total value of all goods produced and services provided in a country in a year in 90 percent of the world’s nations.(2) According to 2016 statistics the U.S. spends more on its defense than the next eight countries combined.(3) That same year, China was second with a 215 billion dollar defense budget and Russia was third at approximately 69 billion.

“The United States spent $598.5 billion dollars alone on the military in 2015. That is 54% of all spending in 2015. The US only spent $70 billion (6%) on education and $13.1 billion (1%) on food and agriculture.” (“Military Spending”). This shows what Americans really value.

The United States has spent so much money on the military that they have not taken much consideration into much else. This could put the United States into debt.

Consequently, the Obama Administration has silenced defense leader for a long time, so he could keep his Budget Control Act or (BCA). For example “8 years under the Obama Administration, top defense officials were largely silenced and prevented from articulating their concerns about budget cuts and decreased readiness”(Cooper pg1). The Obama Administration neglected top defense officials, which has resulted in “Army has lost more than 205,000 soldiers, or 30 percent of its staff”(Spencer). Nevertheless, this has also resulted in “3 of 58 Army brigade combat teams are considered ready for combat”(Cooper). Conversely, Obama cut down the military so far that America has 150,000-225,000 troops ready in the Army when all of our combat teams should be ready for combat, so that the armed forces can protect America’s interests at home and abroad. Moreover, the Army is not the only who has experienced decreased readiness, for example, there have been budget cuts across the board which have resulted in “The Air Force is the smallest and oldest it has ever been”(Cooper). “80 percent of the United States Marine Corps or (USMC) do not have the minimum number of aircraft they need for training and basic operations”(Cooper). “The Navy’s fleet is the smallest it has been in nearly 100 years”(Cooper). “Maintenance period will increase costs 2.6 times”(Pickup). Accordingly, all parts of the Armed forces have experienced budget cuts

The safety and well-being of United States citizens continues to grow more important with each passing day. Events such as the Newtown massacre, and several other active shooter situations have led to a greater need for private security. Chris Hertig and Charles Thibodeau say, “The use of force against violent, aggressive or resistant persons is a necessity in the protection of people, property and image.” So exactly what amount of force can a private security officer use in a given situation? First one must look to when force is required, and what levels of force are granted under “Continuum of Force” (Hertig & Thibodeau).

The United States is a country that revolves around money, yet is facing a $20 trillion national debt. The current issues of increasing healthcare costs, the Social Security fund, and military expenses are the main issues responsible for the debt. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was put into effect in 2010 and has become the major spender in the healthcare field. The Social Security fund is expected to be completely drained at the end of the year 2016, which will result in millions of Americans being cut short of receiving their full benefits. The United States military has become a major area to spend tax dollars on. As a result, the military budget has already begun receiving cuts in funding from maintenance and training. The solution to repairing this broken nation is simple; America must cut down salaries of the overpaid government workers. America must begin inciting business within the country to build itself back up from the tremendous debt it has taken on. The only way to recover is to bring more money into the nation than the amount of money that continues to leave. Without a solution enacted America will experience an economic collapse, devastating the country as a whole.

There are not any easy ways to cut spending on the military especially since we are in the middle of fighting in Iraq. We can not just pull some troops or provide them with less weapons or supplies then expect them to protect our country as well as they are now. We need a defense budget that matches the new security challenges, not the threats of the last century. We need to recognize that a strong economy is essential for providing the resources to meet future threats; addressing these long-term debts will keep our economy strong.

The USA faces a tough financial struggle in the upcoming years. I believe that we need to get our troops out of the Middle East and transfer the money spent on war into our Economy. “The national debt grows when spending outstrips tax revenues, and it has doubled since 2004, surging for reasons that include health-care costs, two wars, and efforts to revive the economy after its 2008 crash” (Trumbull, 2011). Ben

The first article argues that we should not increase our defense spending. Jake Novak, is a senior columnist for CNBC.com and is the author of the article. Novak says that President Trump could buy more jets, ships and military technology like he plans to do without raising the budget. He says that the United States spends over $155 billion per year to maintain our overseas military bases. He doesn 't propose that we should eliminate all of the approximately 800 military installations we have in about 80 countries, including 174 in Germany, 113 in Japan, and 83 in South Korea. Each of those bases cost extensive amounts of money to maintain, feed soldiers, and payments to the foreign countries to use their land. Novak questions the

1. The following position paper will cover the future of military retirement benefits in the current fiscally-constrained environment. Specifically, the problem with the current fiscally-unsustainable retirement program and possible solutions to the aforementioned problem. This paper advocates solutions including discussion on the current program, the newly implemented program, and variations of those programs.

Danielle I aggree with your statement. I would like to add an out of box suggestion though. In my Navy career I notice that alot of military bases are in areas that are underprivileged. So furthermore the goverment is helping the local economy by providing a base which provides jobs to the local economy. Usually bases have local businesses that are contractors for that base. As a example local maintance repairs such as plumbing, roofing, and general upkeep for the buildings on the base.

     Of course, without the supports of the economy it is quite impossible to fund the military, or

For example, something that has happened over and over again is that a military general will become part of government. This means that of course the bills that they try to pass are going to be in favor of our military, whether it’s giving them billions in taxpayers money for funding or for buying tons of weaponry. I find it alarming how big and powerful our military is, the U.S. seems to prioritize it even though there are thousands of other areas where our money could be better spent, like paying off all our students lunch debt, improving our country’s education, or funding for free healthcare. I do think that having a solid military is important but not more important than America’s citizens