The Defense Budget

Toomey2020

Member
May 29, 2011
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I am participating in a debate tomorrow at my high school, and I'm arguing behalf on our budget -- from a republican standpoint. I KNOW my opponent is going to bring up points such as:

Cut the defense, we spend more than all the countries combined!
We can't afford it!

And so on. You probably know it better. But, anyways, can anyone help me out and give me some good rebuttals to that?
 
the military might of the USA is being abused to export political agendas of the rich and powerful. Do you think they care who dies? It is not their children in the service. Thus the need for a poor class in the USA.
 
The argument is that cutting defense isn't enough. Of the 2010 budget, 55% of the budget was for social security, medicare/medicaid, and various welfare programs. 19% of the budget was defense. Even if we were to cut then entire DoD as it stands, we would still be in the red.

In the interest of fairness, cuts from all of the big ticket items would be the most desirable approach. In fact, the DoD is already downsizing the military thanks to the end of the Iraq war. Liberals, it's your turn to "have some skin in the game".

The obvious response to this is that the rich need to contribute more through taxes, then cuts to SS and eveything else (besides the DoD) won't be needed. First, it's been shown that even if you tax the top 10% at 100% you still wouldn't close the budget gap. Second, while I don't oppose the idea of higher taxes for the top earners, it would be nothing more than a token gesture if the government doesn't solve it's spending problem first. There's no sense in bailing out the water if you haven't stopped the leak yet.
 
We are a global society. We are a Super Power. We have a vested interest in keeping sea lanes open and curbing despots and dictators. Europe won't step up and do their part.

We are at war with a world wide web of terrorists. Some State sponsored. We need to have the ability to intervene in Countries that attack us or pose verifiable threats to our trade lines and comm lines and those of our allies.

Our current military is actually to small. We need more combat brigades yet we will be cutting again.

Defense is a SPECIFIC power listed in the Constitution. And as mentioned is less then 20 percent of the Budget INCLUDING the current wars. Social programs are almost 60 percent. Yet none are even mentioned in the Constitution.
 
I am participating in a debate tomorrow at my high school, and I'm arguing behalf on our budget -- from a republican standpoint. I KNOW my opponent is going to bring up points such as:

Cut the defense, we spend more than all the countries combined!
We can't afford it!

And so on. You probably know it better. But, anyways, can anyone help me out and give me some good rebuttals to that?

Love it or leave it!
 
We are a global society. We are a Super Power. We have a vested interest in keeping sea lanes open and curbing despots and dictators. Europe won't step up and do their part.
Then they don't deserve freedom. Fuck em!

We are at war with a world wide web of terrorists. Some State sponsored.
That "state" would be the USA, the CIA specifically, who created Al Qaida then backed them in Libya.

Our current military is actually to small. We need more combat brigades yet we will be cutting again.
Need more for what? Assisting in an "Arab Spring"? The Homeland doesn't need as many troops as you say.

Defense is a SPECIFIC power listed in the Constitution. And as mentioned is less then 20 percent of the Budget INCLUDING the current wars. Social programs are almost 60 percent. Yet none are even mentioned in the Constitution.
Yes, Defense IS in the Constitution. But a Giant Military Industrial Complex running all over the planet and getting involved with "foreign entanglements" isn't.
We could afford our social programs if we didn't have the Federal Reserve putting us into perpetual debt bondage by loaning trillions to overseas banks.

It's ok to think for yourself now, you aint in the Military anymore.
 
I am participating in a debate tomorrow at my high school, and I'm arguing behalf on our budget -- from a republican standpoint. I KNOW my opponent is going to bring up points such as:

Cut the defense, we spend more than all the countries combined!
We can't afford it!

And so on. You probably know it better. But, anyways, can anyone help me out and give me some good rebuttals to that?

The usual approach is crank up the fear machine. Point out how the rest of the world hates us because we are free. The world is full of religious fanatics and only worldwide military domination will protect us.
 
I saw a lot of overly emotional responses so far and, despite what the GOP thinks, being overly emotional is not the way to win debates. Be logical and you win.

Cutting the defense budget in half would remove hundreds of billions of dollars from our economy. It would cancel contracts with companies that would then be forced to lay off workers and pull back on buying materials, which would further slow down our economy. Those workers work in specialized fields, so it's not like they could simply rush out and get other jobs. Not to mention, it means less soldiers, which means firing of our men and women in uniform. All these firings would ripple into education, as they would have to go back to school to learn new trades and skills. And who would pay for that? Yup. The government, with guaranteed student loans. And we haven't even talked about the unemployment money that would be spent on these new unemployed workers.

Cutting defense in half will hurt the economy. Period. Do we really need that right now? No.

edit: p.s., and I'm a bleeding heart liberal!
 
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I saw a lot of overly emotional responses so far and, despite what the GOP thinks, being overly emotional is not the way to win debates. Be logical and you win.

Cutting the defense budget in half would remove hundreds of billions of dollars from our economy. It would cancel contracts with companies that would then be forced to lay off workers and pull back on buying materials, which would further slow down our economy. Those workers work in specialized fields, so it's not like they could simply rush out and get other jobs. Not to mention, it means less soldiers, which means firing of our men and women in uniform. All these firings would ripple into education, as they would have to go back to school to learn new trades and skills. And who would pay for that? Yup. The government, with guaranteed student loans. And we haven't even talked about the unemployment money that would be spent on these new unemployed workers.

Cutting defense in half will hurt the economy. Period. Do we really need that right now? No.

edit: p.s., and I'm a bleeding heart liberal!

I totally forgot that one! Yeah, definitely. The war machine if vital to our economy. Good one.
 

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