I am the first to claim I am no expert, but this may be about much bigger fish.
The A-10 is great against low tech terrorists hiding in a cave, but I suspect we need the money to buy the weapons we will need against Russia, China, NORK, and the such.
Low tech massive firepower with no stealth is Magic Dragon/Drone material anyway. We NEED to be able to take on the Ruskies, and they ARE spending a lot on a some pretty capable equipment.
Can you cite/name this pretty capable equipment
?