If that is the case then why does Obama want to cut defense spending? Does that not cut private sector jobs?
It will but many aren't in the US.
But that's only one part of it. The GOP wants to cut every department. and won't admit it cost jobs.
If that is the case then why does Obama want to cut defense spending? Does that not cut private sector jobs?
Are you suggesting that the House republicans control fiscal policy?
The majority of defense money is channeled to very large companies, some with questionable histories involving kick-backs, over-runs, and fraud. I'm more in favor of keeping small businesses in the game than a company like Haliburton or Lockheed.
Total (Fed + State + Local) government expenditures as a percent of GDP.
Total (Fed + State + Local) government expenditures as a percent of GDP.
Not sure what the problem is. Spending as a percent of GDP went up during the recession and now it's going down.
That is hardly austerity.
The majority of defense money is channeled to very large companies, some with questionable histories involving kick-backs, over-runs, and fraud. I'm more in favor of keeping small businesses in the game than a company like Haliburton or Lockheed.
Maybe when the neighborhood grocery can manufacture airplanes they'll get a government contract.
"A large cut in federal spending, primarily on defense, was one of the biggest drags on growth. Defense spending contracted at a 22% annual rate.
Alan Kreuger, head of President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, attributed the deep decline to the looming sequestration deadline.
"A likely explanation for the sharp decline in Federal defense spending is uncertainty concerning the automatic spending cuts that were scheduled to take effect in January, and are currently scheduled to take effect on March 1st,""
http://money.cnn.com/2013/01/30/news/economy/gdp-report/index.html?hpt=hp_t3
I guess if we just increased government spending by 3 or 400% the economy would start flying! We should do that! Lets make the federal budget 10 trillion/year! That should do the trick!
Except overall gov't spending in the 4th quarter was higher than in either the 2nd quarter or the 3rd quarter. Defense spending may have been down, but overall spending was still higher than the previous 2 quarters.
http://www.fms.treas.gov/mts/mts.pdf