General Discussion

colsohlibgal

(5,275 posts)

20. Cut It By 50% At The Very least

Sat Nov 17, 2012, 01:51 PM

Nov 2012

We'd still be safe if we're competent.

Dwight Eisenhower rose to fame in WWII but his prime warning in his presidential farewell speech, January 1961, was about not letting the military industrial complex gain undue influence in the future. Obviously his worst fears have been realized.

It is the elephant in the room and that's maddening.

Cut it in half, institute a VAT, legalize pot everywhere and tax it, employ anyone displaced by the military cuts on the task of finally fixing our crumbling infrastructure - maybe come up with something more reliable than 19th century telegraph tech (poles and wires) for power transmission. Oh and raise the tax rates on the ultra rich to slightly less than half of where Ike had it.

That seems like a good start and it's not rocket science.

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21 replies

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Cut the Military by 10%... [View all] WCGreen Nov 2012 OP

These are good ideas... CaliforniaPeggy Nov 2012 #1

Cut the Military by 90% Gregorian Nov 2012 #2

That could be a goal, perhaps cut a percentage over a defined time frame... WCGreen Nov 2012 #6

I thought of that. We'll be lucky if they even pass the filibuster rule on Senate day 1 next year. Gregorian Nov 2012 #19

America spends sickeningly large amounts of money on the military complex rustydog Nov 2012 #13

Raise the income cap edhopper Nov 2012 #3

You would have to do it over a few years since there are legitimate people WCGreen Nov 2012 #4

That would be fine edhopper Nov 2012 #8

And we'd still be the baddest asses on the planet. trof Nov 2012 #5

Well thought out. cheers MrYikes Nov 2012 #7

I would support charitable deductions but LiberalFighter Nov 2012 #10

I would have the top tax bracket higher LiberalFighter Nov 2012 #9

Eliminate the home mortgage deduction. About 100 billion in tax revenue right there. Kaleva Nov 2012 #11

10% would be a drop in the bucket to DOD spending Victor_c3 Nov 2012 #12

$718B DoD in 2010. Total military expenditures for that year were in excess of $1.6T. Egalitarian Thug Nov 2012 #18

privatized army mdohoney Nov 2012 #14

Works for me.... WCGreen Nov 2012 #15

K&R This is one model for success. Now how do we get anybody that matters to push for it? Egalitarian Thug Nov 2012 #16

K&R Well thought out! nt ProudProgressiveNow Nov 2012 #17

Cut It By 50% At The Very least colsohlibgal Nov 2012 #20

Drop the empire and convert it to a domestic emergency force. JackRiddler Nov 2012 #21