Polling from Pew and Gallup reveals major public misconceptions about the defense budget. Fifty-eight percent of Americans know that Pentagon spending is larger than any other nation, but almost none know it is up to seven times that of China. Most had no idea the defense budget is larger than federal spending for education,…
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The Honorable Erskine Bowles National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform 1650 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20504 Dear Mr. Bowles: We are writing to you and other members of the President’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform as individuals who have worked in national security affairs for decades for the Department of…
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In 1998, the Pentagon budget was at a twenty-three year low at $361 billion (in constant 2010 dollars). For 2010, the DOD budget was $697 billion (also 2010 dollars, as are all the rest that follow). According to the analysis of the Project on Defense Alternatives, between 1998 and 2010 Congress appropriated to the…
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