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mostlyconfused

(211 posts)

14. Can we talk some specifics?

Reply to LastLiberal in PalmSprings (Reply #13)

Tue Dec 11, 2012, 08:21 PM

Dec 2012

The federal budget last year was $3.8 trillion. Defense spending made up 18.4% of that, or about $700 billion. If you cut the defense budget to $0, and raised the top marginal tax rate to 100%, you could come up with just about enough to cover last year's annual deficit.

Clearly neither of those are realistic solutions, and neither will be adopted, but it provides some perspective on the size of the budget problem. It will take more than raising taxes on the rich and cutting from the defense budget.

But...if we agree that some (or a lot) of defense can be cut...do you have any figures on the line items from the defense budget that you'd cut, and how much of the budget goes to each?

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