Where would you like your tax dollars to go?

[popeyespappy]

In round numbers that would be about a 50% cut in defense spending. 50% of the defense budget wouldn't make the annual interest payments on the federal debt much less start paying it down.

I question that 130 billion (around 25% of the total military budget) a year combined with current payments (around 400 billion) would not begin to pay down the debt. That's like saying that if I'm meeting the minimum payment on my debts and increased what I'm paying by 35%, I wouldn't get out of debt sooner, or at least go into debt slower, depending on the terms. The debt has been growing (nearly 20 trillion dollars now) because of course we've been borrowing more than we've been repaying, not unusual in a recession (or a war followed by a recession). Paying more than the minimum without increasing borrowing will reduce it.

The problem with what you're saying is reducing spending by $130 billion doesn't balance the budget. Annual spending will still be more than annual revenue. We are still going to be borrowing, and the debt will continue to rise until we stop borrowing. Completely zeroing out defense spending wouldn't balance the budget.  



Zeroing out the defense budget would have negative effects as well. Not the least of which is 6 million more people (about 5% of the workforce) would suddenly become unemployed. That would double the unemployment rate, and probably send us into another depression. That would reduce revenue and make it even harder to balance the budget.

Don't get me wrong. I think we should reduce spending starting with defense. I think we should increase tax revenue starting with raising social security and medicare taxes. We need to get to the point where we can start paying down the debt. Getting there without crashing the economy is going to be the equivalent of juggling chainsaws and flaming cats while riding a unicycle across a loose tightrope in gale force winds. It ain't going to be easy.