Trump "firing" the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, a new combat plane program for which defense contractor Lockheed Martin will charge an estimated $400 million (depending on order number and cost per unit. Photo source: Foxtrot Alpha - Data source: CBS News.)
Summary: President-Elect Donald J. Trump has recently flip-flopped on the subject of military funding. Though he has promised to make the United States' armed services "so big, so powerful, so strong, that nobody, absolutely nobody, is going to mess with us...", he has also strongly supported elimination of the federal debt. Given that increased expenditures are usually correlated in public opinion with a stronger military, his two goals might appear conflicting to his electorate. However, in stating his positions, Trump has also called for the reining-in of defense contractors, which he perceives as being corrupt and too influential on the federal government. With his lack of a specific position on current budget regulation laws, Republican critics have said his ideas may be dangerous to national security and American strength in foreign policy. His new approach seems to be to increase the overall efficiency of spending on defense programs, saying that we can "do it for a lot less." Interestingly, his position diverges from that of the Republican Party, which believes (and has historically believed) that the military budget should be increased without qualification.
Questions
1. Which is of a higher priority at this point: national defense or the reduction of federal debt? Why? Should more attention be paid to entitlement programs (Medicare/Medicaid, etc.) instead?
2. What do you think Trump will actually do once in the White House? What approach will he take to make sure both debt reduction and security are addressed? Could he attempt to dismantle military-related iron triangles (between contractors, various Congressional committees like the House Armed Services Committee, and the Department of Defense)? If so, how would he go about it?
3. Is the current defense budget too big? Too small? Why? Is the money being used efficiently? If not, what should be done? (CBO, GAO involvement?)
The US isn't spending too much on defense, but they are not spending effectively. The F35 planes cost $98 million per plane. Current F22 and F16 planes cost less and are just as if not more effective than the F35. The F35 represents an arbitrary upgrade that is a waste of money when our current models operate efficiently.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that the U.S. is not spending defense money effectively, however, I disagree with Easton's statement about the amount of money spent on defense because the U.S. is overspending on the military. The U.S. spends $601 billion on defense every year, which is more money than the next seven countries combined. That money could be spent on infrastructure or healthcare, rather than fighting unnecessary war. If Trump wants to put "America first", then he should put an end to the war and focus on rebuilding America internally.
DeleteAs Easton said, it's not as if we are spending too much on defense, but more so doing it inefficiently. Therefore, at this point, I believe that the reduction of federal debt is a higher priority over national defense. Currently, the national debt is around $19.5 trillion--that is a massive number that needs to be addressed by the federal government. If they would more efficiently direct and use the money that they put into other departments such as national defense, then maybe we could begin to pay off that $19.5 trillion national debt that is only growing as time goes on.
DeleteI completely agree with Easton, spending in the military must become far more efficient in order to ensure that we can have a strong national defense while also not wasting money. It is important that steps are made to direct military spending towards useful objectives rather than getting unnecessary upgrades on things that we don't need.
DeleteGoing against what Easton said, I think that the F-35 is one of the most, if not the most advanced jet in the world today. Although we do like to have the biggest and most advanced military, there certainly are better ways to spend our money. I believe that the US should not spend as much as it does being the "world police," but I also do think it's important that we do spend money on our military if we want to stay the top superpower. There are far better ways to spend our money that can go forth reducing our debt, and helping our citizens, rather than spending billions of dollars for new jets that will likely ever be more useful to us than the ones we have now.
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ReplyDeleteI think that reducing the national debt is a higher priority. The U.S already has a large defense budget, with being at over 650 billion dollars is more than many of it's competitors combined (Russia, China,...). The U.S can clearly afford cuts in its defense budget while maintaining their status as a superpower. However the national debt is a much more serious problem and needs to be taken seriously by future administrations. Also by cutting spending in defense, the government can work on reducing the deficit without making too much cuts on entitlement programs and social security benefits.
ReplyDeleteTrump's wishy washy stance on defense spending is just another one of the many aspects of his plan that he is not clear about. He is constantly saying contradictory things and in this case his unclear plans can be potentially dangerous as former Republican Armed Service aide Roger Zakheim explained in the article. Zakeheim specifies that proposing to cut the budget and build up the military does not make any sense. I think now is not the time to be unclear about defense spending and the military given the precarious situations in the middle east and with terrorism.
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