You seem to have a real ax to grind against the defense industry and all it does. I say that because of the term you use: "pork." It is the ultimate smear term in politics. Nothing in government, with all the billions spent, is pure. If you want purity, look to Jesus Christ.
For the rest, you have to deal with the realities of a fallen world. But I will tell you this: I'll side with the bravery and sacrifice of the men and women who have volunteered to be deployed 5 times in 8 years for low pay in hell holes of nations; along with the brilliance of American industry in the Boeings, Lockheeds, and Raytheons of our nation any day to the absolute sin that is welfare checks, entitlement checks, Section 8 housing, and useless appendages of government.
Are there abuses and overspending in defense. Sure, but not to the degree the media and the uninformed think. Our political leaders make demands on the military with mission after mission, and responsibility after responsibility that they would not dare give to your average useless bureaucrat.I have news for you: when sequestration kicks in, the useless bureaucrats are protected. No TSA agents feeling up your daughter or Dept of Education Diversity Clerks are going to be cut.
You keep seem to climbing the same mountain over again: A = B, and both cost a derivative of C, so therefore both A and B are to blame. In reality, A is not the same as B. Not in a moral foundation, purpose, origin, or destiny.
Our nation's might, security, standing, and economic vitality (what is left of it) rests upon the very foundation of military capacity. What we are rudely waking up to today is that our national might and purpose have been eroded severely under Obama. Don't think for a moment that if the rest of the world learns of our weaknesses they will not exploit them to the fullest.
When our military is gutted, it will affect our economic standing, both domestically and in the world.
That is something that liberals have never understood.
In many ways the defense industry is a ‘king of hill middle class welfare program’. They typically classify their raping of the taxpayer with programs 10s of billions of $$$ producing crap but some stuff leaks out to the press anyway (here anyway) and it is disgusting. Naturally they try to prosecute those reporting the crimes to the public. Many of the programs are just congressional pork to local voters. No real industry could survive the way they do business.
As far as defense vs welfare goes, Boehner Ryan and CO rammed through the R house that debt limit bill WITH those defense cuts that totally exempted all those welfare programs you cite, yes that's right. They (Ryan and CO) rammed through a bill that cuts your Golden Calve defense pork (and important Defense stuff with it too) while totally protecting the moochers :‘welfare checks, entitlement checks, Section 8 housing’ etc, that you voice such resentment for.
You damn your own case.
Don't blame the troops for the massive pork monstrosity that the Defense industry has become. That is disrespectful of their sacrifice. They have no say over that, it's the greedy politicians.
Your big (massive) government economic model was tried in the last century by the USSR and others and it was a disaster.
“When our military is gutted”
Less than a 10% cut over 10 years is not “gutted”.