Did you know that defense spending is much lower as a % of budget now than 50 years ago?

Question

Newsweek reports (Samuelson column) that 50 years ago defense spending was 60% of the budget and payments for social programs (welfare, social security, medicare and medicaid) was 22% of the budget. In 2006 defense spending dropped to 20% and social programs increased to 60%.
Are we headed toward a socialist state? Are we living in one?
Why do Democrats cry out for even more spending on social programs but do not want to spend money necessary to protect our country?

I'm baffled why I am not getting feedback from liberals on this issue.
Their silence speaks volumes.

Answer 1

No one answered this and I need a "Best Answer". Interesting point you make! We have been getting closer and closer to meeting the objectives laid out by Marx ever since the fall of the Soviet Union. Without our fear of them, we have become more like them. Ironic that we try so hard to be more like governments that have proven weaker than ours.

Answer 2

Your first statement (question) belies your final one. You are speaking of percentages and not actual dollar amounts. You need to place monetary figures here to paint a true picture. I'm not going to look them up for you, but I'll give you an example of how what you are saying can be misleading.

If I have $1000 dollars and I earmark 60% of it for security of my home, then that means I'm budgeting $600 towards that task. If 50 years later I have $10,000 to spend and I earmark 20% of it for security of my home, then that means I've earmarked $2,000 towards that task. That's $1,400 over what I spent on it 50 years earlier, 2 1/3 more, a 233% increase, or 333% of the budget earmarked for it 50 years ago.

As the budget increases, and even taking inflation into account, more dollars will be going towards security even if the percentage of the total budget earmarked for the task decreases.

This is what has been happening.

I'm not a conservative or a liberal, I'm a realist. And I tend to agree with what Mark Twain had to say about statistics:

"There are three kinds of lies. Lies, damned lies, and statistics."

People can twist statistics to suit whatever bias they wish to present.

Answer 3

You'r what we call spun. If reality eludes you it is not your fault. Samuelson spin doctor has performed the surgery.

Total budget $2.9 trillion, maniacal spending makes the 470 Billion military budget look so small. The war cost is a separate line but who's counting.

Oh, ya, --these people who pay social security from their paychecks think this is for social security. They don't think of it as an entitlement.