ARE WE SAFE YET? War Resisters 2009 Pie Chart- 51% of Federal Budget Goes to MILITARY SPENDING

[Orwellian_Ghost]

Total Outlays (Federal Funds): $2,650 billion
MILITARY: 54% and $1,449 billion
NON-MILITARY: 46% and $1,210 billion

Are We Safe Yet?

http://www.warresisters.org/pages/piechart.htm

[blindpig]

1. Well, it's pretty obvious to me where the 'sacrifice' should start.

Ain't nothin' to do with the safety of the American people and everything to do with capitalist profit.

Meanwhile things that affect the health and wellbeing of the people go begging. It is a raging obscenity.

Why is the Pentagon not getting a slashing when the administration is talking about cutting back social security and getting ready to hand the insurance vampires an enormous gift in mandated private insurance? What are the priorities here?

[Echo In Light]

2. Police $tate

[MelissaB]

3. Too bad the media will never use this chart on TV for America to see.

K&R

[Winterblues]

4. And yet Americans are twelve thousand times more likely to die from Cancer.

How much to really help keep Americans safe? I would bet we could spend a third as much on Cancer research and save far more American lives. Why is there such a disconnect here in America when it really comes to protecting our families?

[Occam Bandage]

5. That's a bit disingenuous. That's discretionary spending only,

and includes quite a bit of spending (such as on veterans' programs) that are clearly not actually discretionary.

[lonestarnot]

16. VA benefits? retirement, pension? these part of this pie?

[No.23]

6. Fear ---> security --> strong military --> fear partially subsides --> repeat this cycle

Fear is our secret god.

And the monster we feed.

[Echo In Light]

8. The WANT of power and $ = the need for fear = a big need for fabricated enemies = phony wars

[No.23]

15. It's a discussion that many people prefer not to participate in.

The fear-full may want decent social programs for every American, but their fear will cause them to balk from moving the monies from the Military Industrial Complex to universal health care, for instance.

They would rather tax more, to pay for new social programs, than redirect monies from the MIC to those programs.

You can be well intentioned; but if you are fear-full, too, those well intentions will have a tough time materializing.

Mighty thing, fear is.

[progressoid]

7. k/r

[Skidmore]

9. Today Obama is headed out to his first official meeting with

world leaders. Let's give the man room to forge working relationships. He's said he wanted to cut the military budget and I believe he will.

[blindpig]

10. Oh, really?

Then why is he increasing the Pentagon budget by 8%?

[The Leveller]

12. I've not heard that

Where was it that you read/heard Obama wanted to cut the military budget?

[TBF]

11. More on the budget ..

I think there is some discrepancy in whether he wants to raise the military budget or not. This is what I found on the Political Affairs website:

"A third area of the budget that demands careful scrutiny – and will no doubt be the ongoing focus of political struggle – is the military side of the budget. The Obama administration envisages important savings in Defense Department expenditures by the dismantling of costly, over-run-plagued weapons programs and the drawing down of the war in Iraq.

According to the initial outline provided by the OMB, the Obama budget foresees a total of $662.1 billion in military spending in 2009, including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This would be almost $4 billion less than in 2008, and even though 2010 would see a slight bump of around $1 billion over 2009, the military budget for that year would still be below the 2008 level."

http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/view/8325/1/362/

In any case, it's still way too much.

[Orwellian_Ghost]

13. Some figures

Current Military
$965 billion:
• Military Personnel $129 billion
• Operation & Maint. $241 billion
• Procurement $143 billion
• Research & Dev. $79 billion
• Construction $15 billion
• Family Housing $3 billion
• DoD misc. $4 billion
• Retired Pay $70 billion
• DoE nuclear weapons $17 billion
• NASA (50%) $9 billion
• International Security $9 billion
• Homeland Secur. (military) $35 billion
• State Dept. (partial) $6 billion
• other military (non-DoD) $5 billion
• “Global War on Terror” $200 billion

Past Military,
$484 billion:
• Veterans’ Benefits $94 billion
• Interest on national debt (80%) created by military spending, $390 billion

Human Resources
$789 billion:
• Health/Human Services
• Soc. Sec. Administration
• Education Dept.
• Food/Nutrition programs
• Housing & Urban Dev.
• Labor Dept.
• other human resources.

General Government
$304 billion:
• Interest on debt (20%)
• Treasury
• Government personnel
• Justice Dept.
• State Dept.
• Homeland Security (15%)
• International Affairs
• NASA (50%)
• Judicial
• Legislative
• other general govt.

Physical Resources
$117 billion:
• Agriculture
• Interior
• Transportation
• Homeland Security (15%)
• HUD
• Commerce
• Energy (non-military)
• Environmental Protection
• Nat. Science Fdtn.
• Army Corps Engineers

http://www.warresisters.org/pages/piechart.htm

[TBF]

14. This graph is interesting as well - the US spends more than the

next 15 countries on the list combined: