America's real GDP and military budget?

[Occhidiangela]

Looks like 419 billion DoD budget / 12650 billion to me.  ~3.31%  It depends on what you want to count as military?  Dept of HS?  Army Corps of Engineers?  USAID? Pensions for Veterans?  VA Medical?
OMB - Federal Budget
US Budget 2007
Tables

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Dept of HS is explicitly NOT military, see the Posse Comitatus act for the statutory reasons behind that. I still think the creation of that Department was an irresponsible waste of tax dollars, as Justice and Transportation (via Coast Guard) were already in place. Throwing a bureaucracy at a problem rarely solves the problem.

Military units are at times seconded to HS or Justice, and the operating funds are charged back to the Law Enforcement account. The War on Drugs is a law enforcement expense. That was true when I was in the 'War on Drugs' and I don't recall the rules on that changing. They may have.

ACE is, IIRC, funded by DoA under DoD; Title X.

USAID is neither a DoD agency nor a DoS agency. Its efforts are explicitly non military in character, and far closer to State than Defense in nature. See This USAID / DOS MoU
The VA has to be considered a Defense cost, if nothing else it is a debt service of any given "current year's" defense spending
The pay to vested retired military personnel, the career NCO or officer who retires with 20-35 years, is legally "deferred compensation." It is not a pension. IIRC, it is a DoD budget expenditure.

Moving on to figures lie and liars figure.

If you want to bend the statistics the other way...

War Resisters League's view on the Federal Budget

I note selective use of statistics. They overlook that the Peace Dividend didn't save any money, the rigorous Congressional mandate to reduce deficit spending did in the 90's. That cut both social and military spending. They overlook the root of the problem, which is the propensity of Congress to spend money.

“Past military” represents veterans’ benefits plus 80% of the interest on the debt.*

Yet the admit they are taking liberties with the numbers.

*Analysts differ on how much of the debt stems from the military; other groups estimate 50% to 60%. We use 80% because we believe if there had been no military spending most (if not all) of the national debt would have been eliminated. For further explanation, please see box at bottom of page.

Guns and butter is an expensive mix, no question.

Their concern over the debt service is shared by me, but for different reasons. That brief shining moment in the 1990's, when Congress put forth a bipartisan push to get a grip on deficit spending has been blown away by a Republican administration and a Republican Congress throwing fiscal caution to the winds. Tax cut, twice, and a war? That is irresponsible. You must pay for your wars, one way or another. The second tax cut was an abomination, given the nation's debt posture.

The site ignores the economic impact of military spending, however. Most of that money is spent in the US. Those dollars are circulated in the economy in the service and retail sector, not to mention in the real estate, paying lawyers for divorces, keeping high tech jobs open, an so on.

I agree with the war resister's position that defense spending has to be looked at with some skepticism. However, budgets are, by statute, an annual figure and a current dollars cost.

The policies that effect entitlement, which includes VA programs, are related costs but cannot, in my opinion, be characterized as dollar for dollar equivalent Defense costs.

Thanks for the various links. Some interesting points to ponder. :whistling:

Occhi