[SkyPilot]

While our dollar per dollar spending comparison (which is only an estimate, we really don't know exactly what other nations actually spend on their military) is still the largest in global terms, the truth is the US military is rapidly declining while China and Russia's military are increasing spending rapidly.

The percentage of GDP spent on out military is already at a historic low for modern times. It will fall even more rapidly, to 2.8% of GDP by 2016. While there was a very small relief to some sequestration cuts in 2014, the cuts are still continuing. The US military is now less than 15% of the Federal budget (another historic low for modern times), yet it is forced to "pay for" almost 50% of all Sequestration cuts. These $600 Billion in cuts come on top of $487 Billion in ten year cuts that began in 2012.

Moreover, a dollar to dollar comparison of our spending with China or Russia is not a direct comparison of military capability. The Russians just supplied their front line troops with new body armor - and it is amazing stuff. They don't have the union wages, environmental regulations, plant safety, minority preferred contract set aside costs, legal hurdles, subcontractor by Congressional district set asides, and the rest that we contend with. The same body armor for our troops costs us 4 times as much. The Chinese can buy a tank or a pair of boots for a fraction of what we spend. When hot lead starts flying, we will find that the lethality of their bullets is as lethal as ours are.

The truth is, China and Russia are gearing up for WW III, and we are throwing our money down a toilet bowl of Food Stamps, ObamaCare subsides, Social Security "Crazy Checks" for children who are coached to exhibit behavioral problems, and the rest.

[Diogenesis]

[Darksheare]

Ping, so you can slavishly shriek at us that this is a good thing.

[DManA]

We still spend greater than 3X what the second place Chinese spend.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks SkyPilot.

Here’s some future firing squad stuff:

Preparing the US military for the ‘threat multiplier’ of climate change
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3147366/posts

[gdani]

Anyone who claims to be serious about cutting government spending but does not see the Pentagon gravy train as ripe for reform is not truly serious.

[DoodleDawg]

The percentage increase in U.S. defense spending during that period is still higher than every one of our allies except South Korea and Australia. France, Great Britain, Japan, Italy all cut their defense spending over that period. Maybe the push should be for these countries to step up and fund their own defense and stop relying on the U.S. to do it for them?

[RetiredArmy]

Lots of people ask why America is not in Bible prophesy in these Last Days. My personal opinion is that America as we are today will not exist when the Antichrist comes on the scene. I think America is going to fall and fall hard. It will exist in some form. Maybe as part of the EU or something. But, America as a powerful, meaningful nation will not exist. Economic failure, or maybe even a military failure. America right now is going back to the the 1920-1940 roles. Anti-military, isolationism, saying that foreign affairs are theirs and we have no business getting into those things. Why people think those things do not matter to us, they lose sight of the big picture. We are going to be affected by what happens. We sit on our hands and allow Putin to rebuild the old Soviet Union by taking over nations of the world. How is that not going to affect us? It will, but we are now suffering the Public Schools education of our children and grandchildren. They have been indoctrinated into believing we just need to sit on our hands and allow the world to go its own way. This is Obama’s plan. To destroy us as a player on the world scene. Even if he is not trying, he is succeeding in failure on this scale. America is done. We will never recover this damage to us. We simply are so in debt that there is no way to get out of it and if Hillary is president, we are further damaged. A RINO in the White House is no help. There are no Ronald Reagan’s to save us from Obama as he did with Carter.