If you go by government/international data, the US still spends a larger chunk of its GDP on defense than other countries, which when given its economy, is a huge figure.
Since the end of the Cold War, issue really seems to be defense programs turning into social programs. Pretty much every program now is decided by its clout in Congress and the number of jobs it creates...resulting in an over-expensive and inefficient industry.
Yup, so much waste... just imagine what we could do if the funds were well spent.
We spend a lot more $$, but a lot of that is personnel costs. Defense is clearly not a priority for this administration.
“Pretty much every program now is decided by its clout in Congress and the number of jobs it creates...resulting in an over-expensive and inefficient industry.”
Which is why any smaller budgeted country can compete with us. We don’t make good use of what we spend.