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Duke, you are correct, there is certainly waste in the military (I did almost 2 tours with the USMC). However, as that industry becomes more and more reliant on technology, there will always be experiments and prototypes that get scrapped for a myriad of reasons. That what happens in the research & development stages...some ideas go into production, many do not. And it can be an expensive process. Just because a prototype doesn't go into production, doesn't mean it was a bad idea to build the prototype.
I don't mind some of my tax dollars going to fund military research, as long as the money is spent wisely. I have a much bigger issue with welfare checks being just handed to lazy slobs for not doing anything, and I have a bigger issue with (for example) cops retiring at age 43 and collecting a pension for life. That is absolutely un-justifiable...
But I think we're saying thge same thing...there is just so much waste out there. My guess is that there's enough STUPID waste waiting for a gutsy politician to cut, that we could balance the budget without raising taxes. But every cut is going to anger someone, and many politicians (in both parties) are more concerned with getting re-electd than with making the tough decisions. This fact (politicians being too concerned with re-election) is, IMHO, the single biggets contributor to the mess we're in. It could be solved instantly be implementing term limits. I have never heard a compelling argument in support of unlimited terms for legislators.
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