Where would you like your tax dollars to go?

[Mister Agenda]

Your original claim, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong here, was that cutting defense spending by half then using half of that to pay down the debt would reduce the debt. That would reduce the rate of growth of the debt, but it wouldn't reduce the debt. Eliminating defense spending altogether is not enough to reduce the debt.

BTW, the last time the federal debt decreased from one year to next was 1957 and Eisenhower was president.

This is my original statement: "Cut military spending until it's only equal to the next four countries combined. Use half the savings to pay down debt. Use the other half for sensible results-based programs. A fiscal conservative should consider that a win-win."

'Use half the savings to pay down debt' is a direction , not a claim that it will, by itself, balance the budget. It's a suggestion on what to do with half the money saved. Whether it succeeds in paying down debt is another matter, and it likely won't if it's the only thing you do to address that issue. If I tell you that you can save $50 on a personal budget item and say 'use half what you saved on that to pay down your debt'; I'm not making a claim that another $25 a month is all you need to do to address your debt. In other words, I was just saying where I would like my tax dollars to go. I suppose I'm claiming that that is where I would like my tax dollars to go, but I think I'm in a position to know if that claim is true.

My claim was  that 'A fiscal conservative should consider that a win-win', that is, they should be okay with increased social spending if it's part of an overall reduction of spending. Both sides (liberals and fiscal conservatives) get what they want, win-win. It ought only be considered a loss by someone who is against cutting military spending that much or someone who considers increasing sensible result-based programs a bad thing in itself.