U.S. Spends Three Times More On Lottery Tickets Than On Equipping Its Army — And It Shows (From Forbes)

The Romans had a saying that if you want peace, prepare for war.  Judging from the way the U.S. funds its Army, Americans are preparing to party.  The amount of money that was requested by the Obama administration for equipping the Army in 2017 is only a third of what Americans spend each year on lottery tickets, a quarter of what they spend on tobacco products, and a fifth of what they spend on beer.  Perhaps more to the point, it is only one-half of one-percent of the likely federal budget for the same year.  Is it any wonder the Army is only buying one new tank per month, and the Army’s vice chief recently described his service as “outranged, outgunned and outdated”?  If current funding trends are not reversed, the U.S. Army could be headed for a devastating defeat at the hands of Russia’s rapidly modernizing military in Europe.  I have written a commentary for Forbes here.