I agree but where are the rest of them? Where are you Senator Amy? Senator Al?

Nothing will change until we refuse to vote for it. They made some cosmetic tweaks to the Bush policy. Took his General. Took his Secretary of Defense. Installed Hillary the Hawk at State. Same wars. Same out of control budget. Same war profiteers. Same war for profit mercenaries.

That's what we voted for and that's what I will not vote for in 2010 and 2012.

Great. Ron Paul. Surely one of the most powerful members of Congress.

Uh...so what percent of total spending is the military budget if you *do* add in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan?

Ryan and Grim and Shahien Nasiripour have a great peace up at Huffpo, looking at some recent deeper polling, and the extent to which most Americans really *don't* give a fig about deficits unless they're told to by reporters and uh...the White House! They point out the idiocy of it all, even in terms of electoral politics (Oh, Rahm! Oh, Axelrod!)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/06/mayberry-machiavellis-oba_n_636770.html

But I got to thinking about polls and war spending: do polls ask people's opinions about it? And if so, any deeper polling? It might be interesting, as support wanes, and there are fewer jobs, and people start twigging to the fact that this recession may be deepening, and last a long, long time.

Battling the U.S. Chamber of Commerce lobby . . .

The following is a 2007 Chamber of Commerce report.

Defense Trade: Keeping America Secure and Competitive (pdf)

Starting on Page 10:

The U.S. Defense Industry: National Defense Spending and the U.S. Economy

At the national level, U.S. defense expenditures totaled $474.4 billion, representing 3.8% of the U.S. GDP of $12.5 trillion in 2005. The portion of the defense budget most relevant to the defense industry is the investment portfolio, consisting of procurement and research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E). The investment program of the U.S. Department of Defense totaled $165.4 billion in FY 2005, including supplemental appropriations of more than 1% of the U.S. GDP. Defense investment, as a percentage of U.S. GDP, is estimated to continue to be slightly above 1% throughout the remainder of the Bush presidency and into the immediate future.

Although large, the U.S. defense industry is not as large as the popular perception of “a vast military industrial complex.” For example, the combined market capitalization of the five largest defense and aerospace firms is less than that of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Nevertheless, it is an industry that “punches above its weight.”

• National defense expenditures totaled $474.4 billion in 2005.

• National defense expenditures represented 3.8% of U.S. GDP in 2005.

• Defense investment—procurement and RDT&E—was a little more than 1% of GDP in 2005.

Defense Spending and the U.S. Economy

Defense industry spending has a strong impact throughout the U.S. economy. Major industries that supply products and services to the U.S. defense industry include important services industries such as scientific research and development and engineering and architectural services. Other major industry sectors closely tied to defense and aerospace spending are wholesale trade, telecommunications, and aircraft.

Defense purchases in the scientific research and development industry are projected to total $47.1 billion in 2006, followed by projected defense purchases in the engineering and architectural services industry of $33.2 billion.

Other key industries that supply goods and services to the U.S. defense industrial base are
telecommunications and aircraft manufacturing.

Defense Spending and U.S. State Economies

While defense spending is important nationally, it also has important effects in specific parts of the country. States that are home to military installations and significant defense contractor activity, and thus derive important economic benefits from defense spending, are California, Virginia, Texas, Florida, Maryland, Arizona, Georgia, New York, North Carolina, and Massachusetts. Defense expenditures in these states represent nearly 55% of the projected
$491.7 billion in total defense purchases nationwide in 2006.

The U.S. Defense-Related Workforce

Another area where the defense and aerospace industry has a strong impact is on jobs. In 2006, defense-related industry employment totaled 3.6 million, representing 2.4% of the U.S. labor force. Below are highlights of the defense-related workforce:

• Defense-related industry employment totaled 3.6 million in 2006.

• Defense-related industry employment increased by nearly 50%, or 1.2 million jobs, between 2000 and 2006.

• Private defense-related employment totaled 2.4% of total employment in 2006.

• Total defense-related employment, which includes the U.S. Department of Defense military and civilian workforce as well as defense-related industry jobs, was 5.7 million in 2006, representing 3.8% of the U.S. labor force.

Although substantial concentrations of defense related employment are found in the federal government, the private sector plays an significant role as well. The aerospace product and parts manufacturing industry is heavily reliant on defense spending because it designs and constructs military aircraft. The navigational and measuring manufacturing industry designs and develops complex integrated electronics and guidance systems in aircraft, missiles, and rockets.

Finally, the search and navigation equipment manufacturing industry designs and builds radar, sonar, infrared honing, and many other tracking and location systems for use by the military. At the same time, the modern-day defense industry relies more and more on commercial off-the-shelf products, thus supporting numerous jobs in the private sector that are fully  intermingled with the non-defense production of goods and services.

More at: www.uschamber.com/NR/..../defensetrade.pdf

~OGD~

Now days,juicy couture became more and more popular,it includes juicy couture flip flops,juicy couture tracksuits,juicy couture watches,Particularly in summer.