Market watch: Dow Jones drops approx. 300 points, 4% today. Drops below 7000 points.

[Bitmap Frogs]

Kasz216 said:

Bitmap Frogs said:
Military spending is a huge problem: these guys can wrap their blunders in tight layers of "national security secrecy" and red tape.

And if you attempt to cut there, the opposition will just use it as an electoral weapon. It's disgusting.

 

And technological advancements, job creation, exporting... as weapons are a fairly big US export... and the more advanced we get, the more we can sell off other weapons.

We've got something like dang near half of the arms market cornered... and this is despite the fact that we don't sell our newest stuff.

Also this is just the legal recorded numbers.

 

Technological advancements are not-that-useful when no one else can use them because of national security. Exports are very interesting indeed but why do private business with a healthy export activity need the government to finance their R+D budget?

Just 5 billion dollars (less than 1% of the current military spending) is all that's required to build the ITER which means the development of commercial nuclear fusion. Abundant, cheap, "green" energy for everyone. In the meanwhile, they've spent several billions already just discussing about Yucca Mountain.

Nevermind the blunders we can't even talk about because of the secrecy layer. As they say, government secrecy exists not to protect secrets but rather to protect those who take poor decisions.

@therealmafoo: can't you discuss politics without going personal against someone disagreeing with you? I also find interesting just because I disagree with you, you just go and label me a "socialist" which is a word that has obvious negative connotations to you. In fact, you don't even know my political orientation - just because I disagree on military spending you assume I'm a socialist? Your political knowledge doesn't go far beyond the squabbles between democrats and republicans...