A Little Note on Just How Much the War and Defense Bloat Really Costs
The UK has one of the best armies on the planet, the second largest in fact and it is more than capable of defending the UK from any threat as well as strong force projection.
According to Wikipedia the UK spent 58 billion dollars (2007 budget) on military. This is for a population of roughly 60 million.
In comparison the US spent about 540 billion for a population of 300 million, about 1 and 1/2 times as much.
If we just spent the same amount as the UK (still leaving us the most powerful army on the planet) we would save about 240 billion dollars, or enough to buy private for profit health (source) insurance for 100 MILLION AMERICANS.
Lets be clear. This is 1/3 of the population covered at the inflated costs a small business pays.
So if you are wondering why 47 million Americans (2005 figures) have no health care and why your local hospital went broke and there are sick people lying in the street look no further than the war budget.