Since the left doesnt want to cut any spending other than military, and the right wants to cut everything but the military... We should cut both, as a compromise. For every dollar cut from non-military budget, cut a dollar from the military budget (preferably the overseas budgets), and vise versa. A true 1:1 compromise. Anyone with me?
Military expenditure creates crowding out effects on the civilian sector and therefore stunts economic growth. You would expect, mind you, for reductions to be replaced with civilian expenditures to maintain any macroeconomic demand management effects. Of course you started with a left-right fallacy. Military expenditure reductions, for example, isn't left-specific. You'd expect right wingers to acknowledge the impact of influence costs (and therefore how government offers rent seeking opportunity). You get the same left-right agreement over a lot of government expenditures. Consider, for example, welfare benefits. That provides an automatic stabiliser for the economy; again neither left or right wing orientated. Why not just consider the economic rationality of each form of spending? Informed comment...
Sounds good to me. Lets do it. The government now spends 4.1 trillion a year with a 700 billion dollar deficit and 700 billion in military spending. If we cut 400 billion out of military and 400 billion out of non-military then we will have only 3.3 trillion in spending and 300 billion in military spending.
Im speaking generally, of course. If you try to cut welfare, the left complains that we should cut military spending instead. If you cut military, the right complains about entitlements. Love it or hate it, you have to appease the majority to get anywhere. Sure, it'd be great if we could all see things objectively, but every one if us has our own bias and misinformation, and we're all a bit busy paying the bills to catch up with the reality of politics. So the 'mob' must be catered to, to a degree. Compromise is necessary in politics. There will never be perfection in a democratic republic. Good enough will have to be good enough.
Compromise? We haven't seen that. Instead we have seen corruption of rational policy-making through the ideological grunt of austerity. Market fundamentalism developed a 'there's no other way' dialogue, ensuring false debates over the focus of cuts.
How about for every $1 cut to military spending, which serves to protect the nation as a whole, apply a $1 cut to spending back to each of the 50 States, DC, and territory? Then each $1 billion cut to the military would result in an over $50 billion reduction to Federal spending with a minimal reduction to our military ability to provide protection. And a $50 billion reduction of the military budget would result in reducing the Federal budget to about $1.25 trillion, and a massive revenue surplus to start paying down the Federal debt.
All you are doing is playing politics instead of debating a budget. Budgets should not be created playing tit-for-tat between political parties. What ever happened to the novel concept of doing what is in the best interest of the USA? All of Congress and the President are a bunch of whores pandering for votes with zero regard for the best interest of the USA. What we have today is juvenile and pathetic and at best amateurish! If I was the CEO of the US government today I would fire every one of them...this is how disgustingly bad they are. But...we are stuck not only with a worthless government but they are supported by an electorate that is self-serving and greedy...therefore what we have won't change. Why don't we have any true business leaders who wish to be president...because they know the USA government is a ****-hole that is backed by an ignorant and self-serving electorate. We are at a new low today and I suspect it will remain this way for some time...
We have two increasingly seperate cultures/societies fighting over the foundational concept of 'whats best for our country.' So long as that remains true, compromise is THE ONLY way we're going to move forward.