Tuesday, January 8, 2013
On My Pessimism Regarding the Upcoming Budget Battle
It basically revolves around a) the right's (save for Mr.s Paul and Paul) affinity for military industrial Keynesianism, b) the left's affinity for entitlement society Keynesianism, and c) the fact that both sides are so utterly entrenched on the subject of taxes. I personally feel that as long as these three variables exist, a grander bargain will not be had.
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Well, we did have one prominent conservative on this blog defend military spending as a jobs program and way to boost profits of businesses.
I guess I make a poor Kenysian if I want military spending to be for military matterrs and nothing more.
I know that Ron Paul isn't your favorite but I think that he did make an important distinction when he separated defense spending from military spending (this, when a lot of neoconservatives and neoliberals frequently blend the two). Me, I personally think that we could cut the Pentagon by 20 or so billion (about 2.5% of the current budget) and it wouldn't hurt us period.
I don't think it would hurt us one bit either.
I think the right will bow down to the left's bidding like they did with the fiscal cliff. You're right though. Both sides have an obsession with spending money on the Great Entitlement Society, and an expansion of worldwide militarism justified by "patriotism" without looking deep into whether either has improved the situation here in America or not.
This article clears up the confusion between military and defense spending and how they're two completely different things. I agree with Ron Paul on this and I wish more people could understand and make the distinction.
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/military-spending-vs-defense-spending/
I call it the sacred cow syndrome, my friend. And you're right, these politicians continue with these policies and they never ask for even one scintilla of evidence that they work. Protecting turf, that's what it all seems to about these days.
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