The bigger concern for me is the increased strain on the national debt.
The Simpson-Bowles Commission was designed to see what could be done about the national debt after the 2010 midterms due to the rise of the TEA Party.
There are two main ways to tackle the debt: lower spending or raise taxes, preferably doing both at the same time. The democrats don't want to lower spending on social welfare programs and the republicans don't want to lower spending on defense programs. And neither the democrats nor the republicans want to raise taxes due to corporate lobbying.
And to top it off former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mike Mullen said back in 2010 the national debt was a major concern.
The problem has gotten worse with nobody wanting to implement a solution.
Sources: https://www.politico.com/story/2012/12/mike-mullen-focuses-on-debt-as-security-threat-084648 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Commission_on_Fiscal_Responsibility_and_Reform
The government does a lot of things it doesn't need to do. Some of it is welfare, but not all. Unless we take a hard look at the scope of government the problem is never going to be fixed.
I'm a little hawkish on defense, as that is something the national government should be doing, but pissing money away in places like Iraq and Afghanistan is certainly not something we need to do.
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