America spends more on defence than the rest of the world combined yet we are less safe.

Here is an old school republican that actualy makes sence.

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children . . . Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron."

-- Dwight Eisenhower, 1953 "The Chance for Peace" Speech.

What does the defense budget pay for???

Let's see...
Supplies, vehicles, weapons...

Of course there are thousands of things that your tax dollars go to to help keep this country safe... And trust me, we (myself being a military member) keep you safe. 9-11 happened because politicians didn't see warning signs that could have prevented such an occurance.

We have not had a full blown war on American soil since the Civil War. Why is that??? Because the DEFENSE BUDGET pays for the preventative measures put in place to make sure your hometown isn't bombed by somebody that doesn't like our way of life.

Now, back to where the budget goes...
Food, clothing, housing allowances, PAYCHECKS <<<

Now, if they cut down the defense budget, where will the US military make the cuts. Hate to tell you, it will be military paychecks. I don't serve my country for a paycheck, but I still need the paycheck to live. I can make a hell of a lot more doing my job of expertise in the civilian sector, but I want to serve and protect my country, so I take a subpar (as compared to the civilian sector) paycheck to do so.

I promise you, if you cut the defense budget, it will effect military pay. Cause and effect dictates that then you will see more and more people choosing not to join or stay in the military. We have lives to live to.

If numbers go down, the strongest military force in the world will dwindle, and what comes next is something I am sure you don't want to see, you might be watching the fight, except you won't have to spend money on cable tv and electricity to watch it. You'll just have to open your shades and look in your backyard.

You say the defense budget doesn't help keep you safe? Whens the last time you had to worry about a hand grenade flying through your son or daughter's bedroom window.

9-11 proved one thing, it can happen here. Cut the defense budget, watch the military power dwindle, and get ready to see how bad it could really get...

That's not what the secretary of Homland Security said.

Yes. That's the dilemma, isn't it? The military as a jobs program. As to the military keeping us safe, true to some extent. At the same time, foolish use of the military puts us in grave danger. We have decades of history to show that.

I pose no argument to that last part. There are better things we could be doing with the money instead of putting our nose in wars that have been going on for millenias... But then, I do what I'm told, "Shut up and color" as the saying goes.

Proper defense spending would help.

Ike was exactly right about that. He was also right about the Military Industrial Complex:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y06NSBBRtY

Jefferson was also right about the folly and tyranny that would inevitably come from keeping standing armies. (see especially the Declaration of Independence, but also his other papers)

thank you for your service. I also served in a limited way in the Army reserves Jobs were hard to come by so I enlisted for the training. got a 5,000 signing bonus did basic at Ft Knox and AIT at
Aberdeen Proving Ground.

I do not think Army personel are over paid at all and in fact are under paid considring the risks involved.

I do feel the bloated military industrial establishment should be the first place to save money. What 911 did prove is that all the atomic bombs, air craft carriers tanks and missles could not protect us. For what ever reasone we couldnt even protect the pentagon on 911.

Imagine the economy we could have if we only took half the money we spent in Iraq on our own country.