unless conflicts end worldwide I want my country to maintain the highest level of military technology and local capacity to ramp up if needed. That being said I don't want my country involved with every conflict in the world.
Yeah, because that for sure will stop other world powers from arming themselves and attacking others.
And to answer upcoming question: why we should care not others instead of ourselves. No one attacks us militarily (we are attacked via hubris warfare with disinformation such as this though) because we are armed.
If we consider corporations people (and the Supreme Courts says we have to) then we should tax their income. That means total income, not profits because I don't pay taxes on what's left over after my bills, so why should corps get to?
Wouldn't the billionaires just create private LLC to hold their funds? And they are not income based taxes, this would have to be based on shares or assets, net worth.
Taxing billionaires can help, but we also need to see that they contribute to what laws and rules get made, using lobbyists and support from politicians they fund.
Please inform and educate me, for those that have thought more on this!
I think when people say "tax the billionaires" it's implied that there would need to be new tax policy drafted that closes certain loopholes and exploitable tax shelters.
The USA spends twice as much on public healthcare than it does on defense.
(Medicare and Medicaid = 1.4 trillion per year, vs. defense = 700 billion per year)
The problem isn’t that tax money is being used for defense.
The problem is that healthcare prices are insane in the US, and that the government isn’t allowed to negotiate lower prices (even though they have the weight to do so).
Absolutely true. In the late 40s, when other countries were setting up public healthcare, we didn’t do it because we didn’t need to since employers offered healthcare plans. So it didn’t happen for us. Now there is no political will, because employers LOVE the leverage it gives them.
DoD spending was $1.8 trillion in 2023, of which $700B was “discretionary” spending. Medicare and medicaid spending was $1.6 trillion, of which $0 was discretionary.
Yeah, the F16 is one of the best examples of a fighter that can do nearly every role competently while being reasonably affordable. There is a reason so many countries bought it.
There was the semi-recent report following the plane disappearance in the Carolinas that pointed to the battle readiness of the F35 program being lower than is acceptable (don’t remember the percentage thrown out there), and a lot of that is due to the corporate side of the deal. Parts are not readily available when needed, repairs are going slower than we are used to, and this is on top of using newer technologies in an effort to PREDICT future conflicts.
I hope we have learned our lessons from the F22 and F35 programs. New tank designs for the successor to the M1A2 Abrams are popping up. We cannot allow future programs to continue to favor corporate profits to these levels.
Dumb Russian propaganda.especially that the equipment we are sending we would have to pay to dispose.
Besides one doesn't exclude the other and GOP wants to cut it no matter what.
Also stuff like Medicare for all would actually save money. Social security is another pool of money separate from other taxes and working people pay for it. Aren't student loan cuts actually a good thing? What is job opportunity cuts? What are legal services cuts? At least in my school school lunches expanded and include all children regardless of income.
I live in a first world country, so can anyone tell me what a food stamp is? I've heard a lot about them from TV, but I don't understand wth it is. Is it discounts that the government pay for food, who makes them, where do people get them?
It just means that the goverment will give you money to buy food if you're poor.
They used to be stamped paper cards, hence "Food Stamps", but are now distributed via debit cards. The name stuck, even though current programs have different names
Sorry you're getting down votes for just asking a question
The other comment reply got you your answer, but I'll just add that these days, I believe "food stamps" are under the government acronyms of SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) and are dispersed via EBT (Electronic Benefits Transfer).