Stop funding foreign wars and use our tax dollars for things we need. It’s time for universal healthcare and free higher education. Let Europe clean up their own back yard for a change. This is just another way to funnel our money into the pockets of their buddies in the military industrial complex. Stop giving endless handouts to Israel or any other country. How the fuck can we afford this with a national debt in the trillions? Till every American has shelter and food security turn the goddamn spigot off. Quit draining us dry while we need it here at home. Try requesting something for your own fucking people for a change.
The money goes from the US Treasury to Raytheon (for instance).
Munitions manufacturers like Raytheon have shareholders. The weapons they manufacturer, by contract, can only be sold to the US. That’s because the US paid for their development to begin with. Yes, they do make money. But, having worked government contracts before, it may not be as much as you think. A lot of times the government has difficult requirements that has to be built into the end cost.
Ever work on government RFPs? Ever win one? Ever take it from cradle to grave? Ever watch the development money flow? It’s not easy, and yes, you too get paid. There isn’t giant margin on government c9ntract, but the work is steady.
I’m not “you people”, and I’m far from supporting this.
But I hate misinformation, and this money is used to push American industry, not given away. The end products are, but the money, aside from filling pockets of the defense contractors also supports American jobs.
From the point of American economy that’s preferable than, say, tax cuts for the rich.
The moral side of things is a different matter, but a moral argument cannot be supported with lies about economics. If anything that makes the moral position weaker.
The end products are, but the money, aside from filling pockets of the defense contractors also supports American jobs.
That’s the thing. This is money coming from American taxpayers to support defense contracts and jobs that don’t benefit the American people.
All of the money being spent to make weapons we give away could be better spent helping the American people. This way, their tax dollars are used for services that actually benefit them.
Tanks don’t benefit us unless we sell them or use them.
But now we’re in critic of the industrial military industry per se, not where those weapons are delivered to. And we’re far away from the claim whether America is sending money, because it isn’t.
My point, from the beginning, is that US arms can be sold. They are not worthless, and giving them away means taxpayers funded jobs that give no benefit to the American people and line the pockets of for-profit business owners.
weapons produced by Americans paid for by Americans.
only now it’s not American soldiers who do the shooting.
You’re trying to argue that it’s a win for the US because Americans aren’t using it. If the US sold its equipment instead of giving it away, you would have a point that it is good for the American economy.
My counterpoint, from the beginning, was that giving away equipment “just means a defense contractor got richer at the expense of American taxpayers.”
The taxpayer money that was spent on equipment we gave away could’ve been better spent on something that actually benefits the American people. It would still create jobs, but those jobs would be benefiting us instead of defense contractors and whoever we give our equipment too.
1)military industrial complex jobs employ hundreds of millions of Americans, so it’s not like we don’t get something for our money.
most of the defense budget is spent on pay, pensions, training, maintenance, etc. Only about a third of the military budget is spent on weapons or weapons research and only a fraction of that goes to foreign wars. Meanwhile the maintenance of US nuclear weapons alone exceeds foreign the average annual military assistance spending.
the national debt is irrelevant. It’s all imaginary. It will never be paid off and that’s fine. We could just say it is 0 tomorrow and it wouldn’t make a damn bit of difference in anyone’s life.
the only reason every American doesn’t have healthcare, shelter, food security, and a home is simply that it is not profitable to do so. Capitalism is the problem, not foreign war spending. Even if we put 100% of our foreign war spending into these problems it wouldn’t be enough to fix even one of them. We have to tax the rich.
It’s more a statement that funding foreign wars has no negative effect on the economy and does not deprive Americans of any government services. Their morality or whether they are good policy is another discussion entirely.
1)military industrial complex jobs employ hundreds of millions of Americans, so it’s not like we don’t get something for our money.
This is what you, still, do not understand. All of the money spent on manufacturing weapons for other nations could be spent improving life for Americans here.
You would only have a point if these nations were paying for these weapons. Which they are not.
This is literally taxpayer money being funneled to defense contractors so they can give weapons away to nations like Israel. They have enough wealth to buy our weapons. We shouldn’t be giving them away for free while the Americans who paid for them go without higher education or health care.
There is not the political will to improve the lives of Americans. Half the country wants to eliminate Social Security, Medicare, Obamacare, public education, welfare, and basically all “entitlements”.
In 2022, the US has given $3.8 billion in military aid to Israel. What the US spends just on maintenance of its nuclear arsenal could fund Israel at that level for 20 years. Just one F-35 fighter costs about $30 billion.
All this is not touching on the reasons we give aid to other countries. In many cases the aid protects our economic interests and saves us money in the long run. Take Ukraine for example. The war is weakening one of our major military competitors, which means they are less of a threat to us and we do not need to maintain as many defenses against them.
That’s maybe an argument against more Iraq wars with their multi-Trillion-dollar price tags.
Sending money to help out an ally who just got attacked is just orders of magnitude away from being able to pay for higher education or Healthcare for everybody in the country, it’s like saying to buy a house with your avocado toast savings.
There is no way at this point to get Republicans to agree to Ukraine funding without Israel funding too. Biden knows this. Sometimes you have to play politics to get your way. Israel doesn’t need our money, but it’s also a drop in the bucket in terms of the budget and Ukraine does need our money.
Learn about the color of money in Congress. Certain funds are used for military support which is an agreement the United States has with various nations. In exchange for support in GWOT, the United States agreed to offer military aid to Ukraine in the event the nation was attacked. Ukraine was a vital logistical partner to the United States during GWOT.
The United States has a similar agreement with Israel.
It’s the foundation of global peace and diplomacy and to not fund such actions would lead to more violence and tragedies.
I know civics is rarely taught and when it is the class barely touches more than the basic concepts of government. It certainly doesn’t go into what the U.S. State Department does, but these agreements are why we have ambassadors throughout the world. They are our representatives who know these agreements word for word.
Stop funding foreign wars and use our tax dollars for things we need. It’s time for universal healthcare and free higher education. Let Europe clean up their own back yard for a change. This is just another way to funnel our money into the pockets of their buddies in the military industrial complex. Stop giving endless handouts to Israel or any other country. How the fuck can we afford this with a national debt in the trillions? Till every American has shelter and food security turn the goddamn spigot off. Quit draining us dry while we need it here at home. Try requesting something for your own fucking people for a change.
Umm… do they transfer money now? Usually they transfer weapons produced by Americans paid for by Americans.
That’s the same thing that has been going on for decades, only now it’s not American soldiers who do the shooting.
Yeah, I think there are too many people that don’t understand this. Its not like there is money changing hands.
The money is changing hands, it just doesn’t touch the beneficiary.
Nothing happens in us without at least two rich dude turning a profit…
If they can’t get profit, nothing happens
The money goes from the US Treasury to Raytheon (for instance).
Munitions manufacturers like Raytheon have shareholders. The weapons they manufacturer, by contract, can only be sold to the US. That’s because the US paid for their development to begin with. Yes, they do make money. But, having worked government contracts before, it may not be as much as you think. A lot of times the government has difficult requirements that has to be built into the end cost.
US procurement is a corrupt clown show.
Military contractors overcharge the Pentagon on almost everything the Department of Defense buys each year.
This has been a known fact for decades into he circle and it is so bad that main stream media is covering it.
Not really sure what you are smoking but that shit must be real good or the money is right for this brain dead take lol
Ever work on government RFPs? Ever win one? Ever take it from cradle to grave? Ever watch the development money flow? It’s not easy, and yes, you too get paid. There isn’t giant margin on government c9ntract, but the work is steady.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pentagon-budget-price-gouging-military-contractors-60-minutes-2023-05-21/
I’ve done all that and you’re dead wrong.
Can you people please stop saying this as though the equipment we send to them is worthless?
Even if it’s already built, it’s still valuable and giving it away just means a defense contractor got richer at the expense of American taxpayers.
I’m not “you people”, and I’m far from supporting this.
But I hate misinformation, and this money is used to push American industry, not given away. The end products are, but the money, aside from filling pockets of the defense contractors also supports American jobs.
From the point of American economy that’s preferable than, say, tax cuts for the rich.
The moral side of things is a different matter, but a moral argument cannot be supported with lies about economics. If anything that makes the moral position weaker.
That’s the thing. This is money coming from American taxpayers to support defense contracts and jobs that don’t benefit the American people.
All of the money being spent to make weapons we give away could be better spent helping the American people. This way, their tax dollars are used for services that actually benefit them.
Tanks don’t benefit us unless we sell them or use them.
But now we’re in critic of the industrial military industry per se, not where those weapons are delivered to. And we’re far away from the claim whether America is sending money, because it isn’t.
My point, from the beginning, is that US arms can be sold. They are not worthless, and giving them away means taxpayers funded jobs that give no benefit to the American people and line the pockets of for-profit business owners.
You’re trying to argue that it’s a win for the US because Americans aren’t using it. If the US sold its equipment instead of giving it away, you would have a point that it is good for the American economy.
My counterpoint, from the beginning, was that giving away equipment “just means a defense contractor got richer at the expense of American taxpayers.”
The taxpayer money that was spent on equipment we gave away could’ve been better spent on something that actually benefits the American people. It would still create jobs, but those jobs would be benefiting us instead of defense contractors and whoever we give our equipment too.
I’m happy for my tax dollars to fund the bullets that shoot Russian soldiers, and the companies that make them.
Lots of misconceptions here.
1)military industrial complex jobs employ hundreds of millions of Americans, so it’s not like we don’t get something for our money.
most of the defense budget is spent on pay, pensions, training, maintenance, etc. Only about a third of the military budget is spent on weapons or weapons research and only a fraction of that goes to foreign wars. Meanwhile the maintenance of US nuclear weapons alone exceeds foreign the average annual military assistance spending.
the national debt is irrelevant. It’s all imaginary. It will never be paid off and that’s fine. We could just say it is 0 tomorrow and it wouldn’t make a damn bit of difference in anyone’s life.
the only reason every American doesn’t have healthcare, shelter, food security, and a home is simply that it is not profitable to do so. Capitalism is the problem, not foreign war spending. Even if we put 100% of our foreign war spending into these problems it wouldn’t be enough to fix even one of them. We have to tax the rich.
This is a roundabout argument for funding foreign wars, or, more specifically, exorbitant defense spending.
It’s more a statement that funding foreign wars has no negative effect on the economy and does not deprive Americans of any government services. Their morality or whether they are good policy is another discussion entirely.
This is what you, still, do not understand. All of the money spent on manufacturing weapons for other nations could be spent improving life for Americans here.
You would only have a point if these nations were paying for these weapons. Which they are not.
This is literally taxpayer money being funneled to defense contractors so they can give weapons away to nations like Israel. They have enough wealth to buy our weapons. We shouldn’t be giving them away for free while the Americans who paid for them go without higher education or health care.
There is not the political will to improve the lives of Americans. Half the country wants to eliminate Social Security, Medicare, Obamacare, public education, welfare, and basically all “entitlements”.
In 2022, the US has given $3.8 billion in military aid to Israel. What the US spends just on maintenance of its nuclear arsenal could fund Israel at that level for 20 years. Just one F-35 fighter costs about $30 billion.
All this is not touching on the reasons we give aid to other countries. In many cases the aid protects our economic interests and saves us money in the long run. Take Ukraine for example. The war is weakening one of our major military competitors, which means they are less of a threat to us and we do not need to maintain as many defenses against them.
That’s maybe an argument against more Iraq wars with their multi-Trillion-dollar price tags.
Sending money to help out an ally who just got attacked is just orders of magnitude away from being able to pay for higher education or Healthcare for everybody in the country, it’s like saying to buy a house with your avocado toast savings.
Ukraine? Sure, sort of.
Israel? Absolutely not. If they need more money, they can take it from their ruling class instead of our taxpayers.
There is no way at this point to get Republicans to agree to Ukraine funding without Israel funding too. Biden knows this. Sometimes you have to play politics to get your way. Israel doesn’t need our money, but it’s also a drop in the bucket in terms of the budget and Ukraine does need our money.
“sort of”?
Ukraine also has a ruling class that it could and should be pulling resources from.
It’s just not nearly as wealthy as Israel’s ruling class and Russia is a much more formidable foe, so I still support outside aid.
I’m sure the war in Ukraine will go away if we just quit funding it, right?
“Ah, peace!” - Enlightened centrists as Ukrainians are genocided.
The US spends more per capita on healthcare than other OECD nations, and it’s not even close. The cost isn’t why we don’t have universal healthcare.
Of course it’s not. It’s a device used to control and keep us beholden unto our corporate overlords through job provided insurance.
Learn about the color of money in Congress. Certain funds are used for military support which is an agreement the United States has with various nations. In exchange for support in GWOT, the United States agreed to offer military aid to Ukraine in the event the nation was attacked. Ukraine was a vital logistical partner to the United States during GWOT.
The United States has a similar agreement with Israel.
It’s the foundation of global peace and diplomacy and to not fund such actions would lead to more violence and tragedies.
I know civics is rarely taught and when it is the class barely touches more than the basic concepts of government. It certainly doesn’t go into what the U.S. State Department does, but these agreements are why we have ambassadors throughout the world. They are our representatives who know these agreements word for word.
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