[CRedskinsRule]

Originally Posted by JoeRedskin

I think CRed's point was that both the endless reward programs and the 200 Million dollar jets should be cut.

Excessive defense spending and excessive entitlement programs are making it impossible to climb out of debt. Despite being deep in debt, we continue to spend like there is no tomorrow.

It's a sweet plane, no doubt ... but, really, where is the need? Keep the plans, run the prototype, keep testing to see if we can upgrade, and, if we get into a war where we need the next generation of fighter, then build (yes, yes ... I know there would be lag time). Right now, we have more than 3 times as many planes as the next largest air force (China) and more than twice as many aircraft as China & Russia (the 3rd largest air force) combined. Total Aircraft by Country

We already have the numbers and tech advantage by a large, large margin. Is now the time to be guilding the weaponry lily? Which makes you better prepared for a real, old style war? The hottest tech or the strongest economy? I would suggest the second.

This.

I am not big on social spending either but, from JR's website:

Defense Spending
Data through 2011; shown in USD
US - $692,000,000,000
China - $100,000,000,000
UK - $73,746,170,000
Japan - $70,495,000,000
Russia - $56,000,000,000

So, if we accept that the UK and Japan would aid us in time of a war with either Russia or China, that puts our combined spending at nearly 6 times the combined spending of our two most likely enemies. But keep in mind that China/Russia have a large portion of their money tied up in protecting their shared border.