Recent discussions on Twitter underscore the challenges in U.S. defense spending, with the Pentagon citing a 37% increase in costs due to poor budget forecasting, supply chain issues, and pandemic-driven inflation. The nearly trillion-dollar Pentagon budget faces scrutiny for not being carefully considered for actual defense needs. The cost of replacing the Minuteman III arsenal with a new ICBM project has doubled, exceeding the Russian military's prewar annual budget, and is now 37% over budget. The debate is intensified by the fact that the U.S. spends $2.9 trillion on Medicare, Medicaid, & Social Security, dwarfing defense spending. Americans' concern over rising spending and higher interest on debt, alongside their reluctance to cut entitlements, suggests intense pressure on other spending, including defense.
military spending is not a social program and should not be justified as such. ICYMI @PeterHarrisCSU https://t.co/r8bu7MsL2G
US DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE = CHAMPION OF WASTE, FRAUD, & ABUSE. The DoD has revealed the Minuteman III missile replacement program is 37% OVER BUDGET. https://t.co/9ogriquAn4
Americans are increasingly concerned by rising spending and higher interest on debt *but* don't want to cut entitlements. That means there will be intense pressure on other spending, including defense. If a proposed strategy ignores this political reality, it isn't credible.
The first American ICBM project in decades, intended to replace the ancient Minuteman III arsenal, just blew Nunn-McCurdy due to spiraling costs and delays. We're now spending twice as much on this program as the Russian military's prewar annual budget. https://t.co/u7ci6FQdlU
The near-trillion dollar Pentagon budget is not based on a careful consideration of what might be needed for actual “defense.” https://t.co/uV4WLdp18J
It should be mandatory to acknowledge that we spend $2.9 trillion on Medicare, Medicaid, & Social Security before anyone starts talking about the defense budget or any discretionary spending. Nothing else comes close to these numbers, it’s not even in the same universe https://t.co/vZAfVf2YYV https://t.co/lrgLUVlBqF
In case you were thinking we'd solved our defense industrial base and supply chain problems, think again. We need to grapple with scarcity. "The Pentagon cited poor budget forecasting, supply-chain challenges and pandemic-driven inflation for a 37% increase in costs…