That doesn't mean there is anything backing it.
And all that does is create even bigger problems down the road."
I'm asking you seriously, why are you so confused about this?
Do you not grasp that national defense must be the Federal government's first priority, regardless of whatever else it may or may not do, it must always, as the US Constitution says, "provide for the common defense"?
I would add another first priority, as spelled out in the 14th Amendment, and that is to guarantee our national debt.
Beyond those, and what it takes for the functioning of government itself -- i.e., the Judiciary -- every other Federal program is secondary, or optional, or subject to being sacrificed for more basic requirements, especially national defense.
That's why it's impossible to say, "we can't afford to defend ourselves."
How is that not perfectly clear and obvious to anybody who loves their country?