Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Chart of the Day
I am quite a bit more hawkish than most people realize. A strong and vibrant military, along with the side benefits of the research and development that go into everything from aviation to medical technology to astrophysics, are a good thing in my book.
That said, this graphic is rather provocative:
Aside from the obvious overkill, there is a deep irony in those numbers. The actual cost of "defense" is only a fraction of the $420 Billion. The rest is spent on all sorts of stuff from R&D to policy projection.
Given that basic paradigm it is amusing to see that those who rant and rave against government spending and its stimulative "bang for the buck" in the economy are quite often the same people who support HUGE military spending.
It has become almost predictable that if the Pentagon tries to end a weapons program a "fiscal conservative" will freak out and start making stuff up to keep the money flowing.
Just sayin'. ¶ 8:00 PM
That said, this graphic is rather provocative:
Aside from the obvious overkill, there is a deep irony in those numbers. The actual cost of "defense" is only a fraction of the $420 Billion. The rest is spent on all sorts of stuff from R&D to policy projection. Given that basic paradigm it is amusing to see that those who rant and rave against government spending and its stimulative "bang for the buck" in the economy are quite often the same people who support HUGE military spending.
It has become almost predictable that if the Pentagon tries to end a weapons program a "fiscal conservative" will freak out and start making stuff up to keep the money flowing.
Just sayin'. ¶ 8:00 PM
