National Security Part 3: Military

For this post, I’m going to start with some financial background.  First, let’s talk about the United States federal budget.  The budget begins with the President who proposes a budget to the Congress for the next fiscal year of October 1-September 30.  The budget is funded primarily through taxes.  In 2015, the government received about $3.25 trillion in revenue through taxes and spent about $3.7 trillion leaving a $440 billion dollar deficit.  The deficit has shrunk each year under Obama.

 

There are two types of budget expenditures: mandatory and discretionary.  Mandatory spending is required by law to those meeting eligibility requirements.  Mandatory spending accounted for 59.8% of spending in fiscal year 2015 including Healthcare (Medicare & Medicaid) at 25%, Social Security at 24%, and other mandatory programs (SNAP, unemployment insurance, etc.) at 13%.

Discretionary spending is reviewed annually as a part of the budget proposal process.  Defense or military comes out of the discretionary budget and in fiscal year 2015, the defense department accounted for 16% of the overall federal budget or about half of the discretionary budget.  The remaining 16% comes from non-defense discretionary spending which includes federal departments (like the Department of Education) and agencies (like the Environmental Protection Agency.)  To the left is a more detailed breakdown of discretionary spending.

So, let’s focus on the defense/military budget.  From this budget comes the salaries, training, and health care of our military personnel along with arms, equipment, and facilities for the 4 branches of the military: Army, Navy, Marine Corp, and Air Force.

The United States spends more on military than any other country in the world.  In 2015, the US accounted for 37% of the $1.6 trillion spent on military and defense worldwide.  Additionally, US military spending is the equivalent of the next 7 largest military budgets combined.  The US spends $2.77 to every $1 China spends on defense.

The International Institute for Strategic Studies released its Military Balance 2016 report in February of 2016 and noted that, “New technologies mean that the West in general and the United States in particular are losing their technological edge, the report found. Countries such as Russia and China have been showcasing new systems and technological advances that show the balance of power may be shifting.”

The Budget Control Act of 2011 brought about automatic budget sequestration or automatic spending cuts to last from 2013-2021 in the event that legislators can’t reach a budget agreement that reduces the deficit by a given amount.  The cuts apply to discretionary spending and hit all programs, including defense, equally.  The idea is that the across the board cuts will force legislators into making budget decisions to avoid the across-the-board blind cuts.

It is widely agreed upon that the sequestration poses a great risk to our national defense.  The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 increased the discretionary funding spending cap for 2016 & 2017.  And, the President’s budget for fiscal year 2017 provides “both funding stability and protection from the damage of sequestration in FY 2016 and FY 2017” according to the Department of Defense.  These are temporary solutions, but the threat of sequestration and to our national defense loom.

Here is where our candidates stand on military and defense.

Clinton:  Clinton calls the FY2017 budget deal a “promising first step in providing government agencies with much needed fiscal stability. But we must go further by ending the sequester for both defense and nondefense spending in a balanced way.”  She wants to invest in innovation and capabilities that help us prepare for 21st century threats.  She wants to create a defense budget that will prioritize defense reform initiatives by curbing runaway costs in areas like health care.  She also has a comprehensive plan to take care of veterans and military families that I will cover in a future post.

Experience:  Clinton was a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Trump:  I will quote Trump’s entire 23 second video from his website on Military.  “I’m going to make our military so big, so powerful, so strong, that nobody, absolutely nobody, is going to mess with us.  We’re going to take care of our vets and we’re going to get rid of ISIS.  We’re going to get rid of ‘em fast.”  That’s the extent of his military platform as found on his website.  Like Clinton, he does have a more extensive plan for veterans which I will address in a future post.

To view National Security Part 1: Strength, Allies, Diplomacy, click here.

To view National Security Part 2: Terrorism & ISIS, click here.