Thus providing about 2% of the funding he wants to spend on increasing the size of the military budget . . .

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"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

Hey, I'm not saying the budget is good. I see no reason to ramp up military spending at this or any point to be honest. In fact, we need to cut there. But I'm fine with dialing back this.

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"In the world I see you are stalking elk through the damp canyon forests around the ruins of Rockefeller Center. You'll wear leather clothes that will last you the rest of your life. You'll climb the wrist-thick kudzu vines that wrap the Sears Towers. And when you look down, you'll see tiny figures pounding corn, laying stripes of venison on the empty car pool lane of some abandoned superhighway." T Durden

I am, too. I listen to NPR a lot, but I see no particular reason we need to fund it with federal dollars. If it can't hack it, I'm fine with it withering away, too.

It just sounds like a recurring pattern for Trump. He makes some gesture that's mostly symbolic, then tries to claim credit for substantively addressing a real problem. Federal spending is out of control, and cutting all funding for the arts while dramatically increasing military spending makes the problem worse, not better.

Though I did just read something that claimed his $54 billion military increase is entirely offset by spending cuts elsewhere- foreign aid, and some other areas more significant than the arts from a financial viewpoint.

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"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

They should have pulled funding for npr a long time ago. They make plenty of money. Plus 99% of there content is strait up lefty propaganda. That being said, "car talk " is one of my favorite shows of all time.

I disagree. We need to spend more on the military. They way to bring Russia to it's knees again is to make them spend money on the military they don't have to compete with us. The is what Reagan did in the '80s and it will work again:

"A central instrument for putting pressure on the Soviet Union was Reagan’s massive defense build-up, which raised defense spending from $134 billion in 1980 to $253 billion in 1989. This raised American defense spending to 7 percent of GDP, dramatically increasing the federal deficit. Yet in its efforts to keep up with the American defense build-up, the Soviet Union was compelled in the first half of the 1980s to raise the share of its defense spending from 22 percent to 27 percent of GDP, while it froze the production of civilian goods at 1980 levels."

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"The great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do."

It's interesting. I looked through a list of 60 some things he wanted to cut and I'm unable to get remotely riled up. Some of them I think are bad ideas. But a lot of them are the kind of things I have talked about wondering if anyone actually uses them.

Over the years we just keep piling things on and never review programs and agencies to see if they are working, if they are duplicative, if they are efficient at all, if anyone is actually using them, etc. I don't think it is a bad idea at all to go through our government and do a reorg.

The downside is I don't think anyone actually did any of the hard work in coming up with this list. I'm feeling more like it was shooting darts in the dark.

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I'm beginning to think that we are much more fucked than I thought.

Then make those cuts and don't add to the military.

He's a fucking idiot.

Maybe it time to invade North Korea. Might as well make the money count.

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How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?

I agree and this is one of the things he campaigned on - his ability to cut costs, e.g., saying he could run Guantanamo for $3M instead of $42M. And all the discounts he's claiming from various airplane contracts.

Maybe it time to invade North Korea. Might as well make the money count.

I get the feeling he wants to "play army." Like his stupid comment when someone gave him a purple heart. "I always wanted one of these."

Then make those cuts and don't add to the military.

In December, there was a study released by the OECD where they tested 540,000 children (age 15) in 72 countries. The U.S is right in the middle of the pack in Science and Reading and near the bottom in math.

In 2015, the American Society of Civil Engineers gave an Infrastructure report card. They gave a failing grade in almost every single criteria (aviation, bridges, dams, drinking water, roads, transit etc.)

Also in 2015, the U.S defense budget was $600B. The next 14 countries in the world combined had a defense budget of $664B.

In February, there was a story about a snow storm in New York and they mentioned that the schools were open. The reason they kept them open is because many of the kids eat breakfast and lunch in the schools and wouldn't get food at home.

To increase spending on more weapons in these conditions is more proof the world has gone mad.

Oh please. You're conflating educated with liberal. I listen to them (well, my local one anyway) and don't hear them extolling the virtues of big government or social programs. They're not bashing them like your preferred news sources which makes it "propaganda" I guess. Their demographic may skew liberal but that still doesn't make them anywhere on the same continent as MSNBC. If you're looking for a substantive discussion of current issues and long form journalism you'd be hard pressed to find anything comparable with less slant in either direction.

As far as funding goes - by all means. I also don't think it needs federal funding. It would be better for the country if people got their news from real sources but there is no demand so there really needs to be no supply (with federal money). I support my local one which runs 90% on donations. They'll be fine.

Car talk is (was) great.

And fuck Meals on Wheels. Per the WH today it hasn't shown results so it goes too. That makes perfect sense. (I can't do pink on my iPhone)

Um, Russia is like fourth in military spending. The Saudis spend more than Russia. China spends twice as much as Russia.

So you're saying outspending russia 8 to 1 isn't enough?

Oh yeah, making it 9 or 10 to 1 is really going to make the difference.

Those old fuckers have lived long enough, and if they were stupid enough not to be born into Trump's family, that's not is problem, is it?

Besides, cat food is cheap

Why put taxpayers' money into the arts when you can spend it to keep Melania and Baron living in NYC?

We gotta have priorities with those tax dollars, right?

Which do you think was more important, Reagan's defense buildup, or the fact that Soviets were already spending 3-4 times as much (as a % of GDP)?

Not news. "Dear American Tax Payer....We Civil Engineers think it would be a good idea to start some Civil Engineering projects. Our kids need braces, and I want one of those fancy smart watches..."

...So we need to spend more money we don't have in order to 'win' the race to get them to spend even more money they don't have? That kind of logic would be right at home in a Monty Python skit ~ like setting up a contest to see who can win a prize for punching himself hardest in the nuts...

Yeah, ignore that whole Oroville thing. Fake news

I'm not saying its fake, but dairy farmers think we need to drink more milk, massage therapists think we need to be rubbed more, etc...

Indeed there are real needs, sometimes it's hard to decipher crying wolf from real wolves.

Civil engineering projects are sooooo over priced these days. Currently around the block from me there is a sidewalk improvement project that could be done with four guys and a case of beer on one sunny Saturday afternoon. But the city has found a way to drag it out over 3 months and half a million dollars. This is being repeated over and over and over.

I'm pretty sure that Mr. Trump spoke about our failing infrastructure during the campaign.

You don't really get to dismiss the opinions of experts just because those experts are invested in the subject they're expert in.

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Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)

Yeah, sort of a silly discussion given the realities of the situation (not to mention that where infrastructure fails, it usually costs a LOT more to repair that than to fix it initially, and often at the loss of life or property, unlike say those deaths caused by lactose shortages)

It seems like the 'investment' in infrastructure will come from private sources. I hope you all enjoy your toll roads.

Hopefully many of you who ignorant about the military mean "get spending under control and to the right assets". The military most certainly needs "added to" if we don't change how money is distributed. Troops, actual fighters VB that is, are not shooting enough, not training enough and are far from ready. Recent Congressional testimony noted that 3out of 50 brigades in the Army are combat ready. That means they are short on people, training, leadership, ammo, vehicles or all of the above.

So before you get your panties wadded up you have to understand that our military is in a world of shit right now.

Just a taste. And this is one of the army's premier units.

http://video.foxnews.com/...7001/?#sp=show-clips

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~
"You lie!" The Prophet Joe Wilson

Let me guess they're union city employees

I do, less traffic

You got a good point. In theory, I would be all for this. But the reality is probably that it will increase traffic on city streets. So unless every road is a toll road, there are drawbacks.

So you must be thrilled that this budget is going to completely fook our veterans then.

Yeah the only highway around Toronto that isn't plugged outside of after midnight is a toll road. Sucks to have to pay but sucks even more to be reduced to a crawl in traffic.

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They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

Not in Chicago. Most everywhere else this would be a possible since more land to build i.e. Out West and Down South

Well if they were blowing billions on the high speed train there would be money for provide dam and a few others.

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"In the world I see you are stalking elk through the damp canyon forests around the ruins of Rockefeller Center. You'll wear leather clothes that will last you the rest of your life. You'll climb the wrist-thick kudzu vines that wrap the Sears Towers. And when you look down, you'll see tiny figures pounding corn, laying stripes of venison on the empty car pool lane of some abandoned superhighway." T Durden

You don't need the arts to lay bricks at the wall, or get shot in a war.

And you certainly don't need all of that for producing highly innovative minds.

So you must be thrilled that this budget is going to completely fook our veterans then.

What makes you say that? Dept of Veteran Affairs would get 6% budget increase.

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"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

Ideology makes him say it.

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~
"You lie!" The Prophet Joe Wilson

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sometimes

Thus providing about 2% of the funding he wants to spend on increasing the size of the military budget . . .

Serious question from the dumb Canadian liberal - what is the purpose of a large military and defense build up?

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

To provide the security umbrella that allows you to sleep well at night.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKy7ljRr0AA

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Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)

Serious question from the dumb Canadian liberal - what is the purpose of a large military and defense build up?

To provide the security umbrella that allows you to sleep well at night.

In 2001, prior to 9/11, the U.S defense budget was $335B. That amount was not enough to stop 9/11. Then the U.S entered Afghanistan and left without a lot accomplished. Then the Iraq war came and went and that part of the world is arguably worse off now than it was in 2003, thanks to ISIS, the family of thousands of people killed by drone attacks, and the Muslims seeing an attack on their religion. The attempted and successful terror attacks around the world have increased dramatically since.

Meanwhile, the defense budget increased from $335B to $637B in 2015. So, what is it about another $54B military spending increase proposed now that will allow the U.S to sleep well at night?

It will make John McCain happy. That's why. Lindsey Graham to. They can focus on other things while in bed together. You know, like Rubio, the newest member of their click. He to will have less to worry about, and they can all play together.

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"In the world I see you are stalking elk through the damp canyon forests around the ruins of Rockefeller Center. You'll wear leather clothes that will last you the rest of your life. You'll climb the wrist-thick kudzu vines that wrap the Sears Towers. And when you look down, you'll see tiny figures pounding corn, laying stripes of venison on the empty car pool lane of some abandoned superhighway." T Durden

I expect the focus of Pres Trump's defense increases is not terrorism, but rather peer or near peer competitors.

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Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)

Yep, it's for when Putin says "Let's you and him fight" to Trump and Xi Jinping.