Top 10 military spending nations

[Col. Flagg]

1. United States (FY08 budget), $623 billion
2. China (2004), $65 billion
3. Russia, $50 billion
4. France (2005), $45 billion
5. Japan (2007), $41.75 billion
6. Germany (2003), $35.1 billion
7. Italy (2003), $28.2 billion
8. South Korea (2003), $21.1 billion
9. India (2005 est.), $19 billion
10. Saudi Arabia (2005 est.), $18 billion

Wow... I guess the military-industrial complex really does control and run this country.

[AussieOi]

1. United States (FY08 budget), $623 billion
2. China (2004), $65 billion
3. Russia, $50 billion
4. France (2005), $45 billion
5. Japan (2007), $41.75 billion
6. Germany (2003), $35.1 billion
7. Italy (2003), $28.2 billion
8. South Korea (2003), $21.1 billion
9. India (2005 est.), $19 billion
10. Saudi Arabia (2005 est.), $18 billion

Wow... I guess the military-industrial complex really does control and run this country. :x

"and I will buy up armies and navies...." any guesses on WHO he was referring to? 1000+ military bases in 156 countries

[Army Of Truth]

We spend almost 10 times more than our closest competitor, China! And if you add up the rest of the list of countries budgets together, we would still be more than double of all of them, combined! Unbelievable!

[SwissMrs&Pitchfire]

What I want to see is what we get for that money! I bet we get very little bang for that buck in terms of future capability.

[Proud 2b Peculiar]

We get what we pay for, more war, more disease and more debt.. yeah! hoorah hoorah...

[a-train]

reigning with blood and horror...

-a-train

[CHH]

I am so glad I don't pay Income Taxes. I sure wish more people stopped supporting these people voluntarily.

Let me point this out now. Your income tax is 100 percent voluntary and your liquor tax is 100 percent enforced tax. Now the situation is as different as day and night. Consequently, your same rules just will not apply... –Dwight E. Avis, Head of ATF, IRS –House Ways and Means Subcommittee Hearings –1953

The real point of audits is to instill fear, not to extract revenue; the IRS aims at winning through intimidation and (thereby) getting maximum voluntary compliance. –Paul Strassel, Former IRS Headquarters Agent `Wall St. Journal' 1/28/80

The IRS's goal is to increase the rate at which taxpayers voluntarily pay their taxes from the current 82.3% to 90% by 2001. –The Washington Post front page Dec. 2, 1993, IRS Hopes Change

Each year American taxpayers voluntarily file their tax returns and make a special effort to pay the taxes they owe. –Johnie M. Walters IRS Commissioner, 1971 Form 1040 Booklet

From Publication 21/ 1998 update
Do you have to file a tax return and pay taxes?”
Answer from Pub. 21:
The U. S. income tax system is built on the idea of "voluntary compliance." This means that it is left to the taxpayer to keep the necessary records, file a return on time, pay any required taxes, and meet any other requirements of the tax law. The system is built on trust in the citizens to know their responsibilities and to do what needs to be done. Taxpayers voluntarily follow the steps the tax system lays out. Failure to do so can result in penalties.

Two aspects of the Federal Income Tax system - voluntary compliance with the law and self-assessment of tax - make it important for you to understand your rights and responsibilities as a taxpayer. 'Voluntary compliance' places on the taxpayer the responsibility for filing an income tax return. You must decide whether the law requires you to file a return. If it does, you must file your return by the date it is due. –IRS Publication 21

You are among the millions of Americans who comply with the tax law voluntarily. –1992 Form1040 Tax Instruction Booklet

Our tax system is based on individual self-assessment and voluntary compliance. –Mortimer Caplin, IRS Commissioner, 1975 IRS IR Audit Manual

The mission of the service is to encourage and achieve the highest possible degree of voluntary compliance. –Donald C. Alexander, IRS Commissioner, Federal Register, March 1974

The IRS's primary task is to collect taxes under a voluntary compliance system. –Jerome Kurtz IRS Commissioner, 1980 IR Annual Report

We have a voluntary compliance system. –Fred Goldberg, IRS Commissioner, Nightline with Ted Koppel, Apr.13, 1990

Our system of taxation is based on voluntary assessment and payment, not upon distraint. –United States v. Flora, 362 US 145 (1958)

And what is voluntary?

U.S. Supreme Court
LEE v. WEISMAN, 505 U.S. 577 (1992)


(d) Petitioners' argument that the option of not attending the ceremony excuses any inducement or coercion in the ceremony itself is rejected. In this society, high school graduation is one of life's most significant occasions, and a student is not free to absent herself from the exercise in any real sense of the term "voluntary." Also not dispositive is the contention that prayers are an essential part of these ceremonies because, for many persons, the occasion would lack meaning without the recognition that human achievements cannot be understood apart from their spiritual essence. This position fails to acknowledge that what [505 U.S. 577, 579] for many was a spiritual imperative was for the Weismans religious conformance compelled by the State. It also gives insufficient recognition to the real conflict of conscience faced by a student who would have to choose whether to miss graduation or conform to the state-sponsored practice in an environment where the risk of compulsion is especially high. Pp. 594-596.