2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Factual talking points on the economy (UPDATED) [View all]progree
(10,901 posts)Last edited Mon Aug 27, 2012, 01:52 PM - Edit history (1)
[font color=blue]#32. Defense spending is apparently around 50% of our total federal spending
We apparently actually spend $1.2 TRILLION a year on defense, including war debts and nuclear weapons maintenance.
I'm not sure precisely how accurate these charts are, but the don't seem completely off the mark.[/font]
(and showing in #32 an unlabelled pie chart showing defense spending as being 54% of the total, without indicating that it is (probably) the discretionary spending part of the budget)
[font color=blue]#37. That largest figure gets up to $1.2 trillion which certainly isn't 50% of all total spending. That's more like 1/3.[/font]
Thank you.
Do you have a source for the $1.2 trillion figure? I don't want to battle the righties or talk to persuadables with numbers that are way beyond what they and I read in the media (which is the $739 billion number) without knowing the source and having a look at it. I certainly agree that nuclear weapon stuff in the energy department budget, war debts (presumably interest on the part of the national debt caused by military spending), and most or all veteran expenditures should be counted. (The only reason I quibble on veteran expenditures is if some of the expenditures are for things that they would still be getting if they weren't veterans, I have no knowledge about that. Do elderly veterans health benefits displace some of what they would get under Medicare if they were non-veterans? )
On Edit: It is my understanding that the entire Energy Department budget is discretionary spending, so .... maybe the nuclear weapons portion is included in the $739 billion number?