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@ISIDEWITHQuestionsForeign policyStarted 11yrs agoActive 2yrs ago

Should the government increase or decrease military spending?

Should the United States increase or decrease military spending?

The U.S. military budge pays the salaries, training, and health care of uniformed and civilian personnel, maintains arms, equipment and facilities, funds operations, and develops and buys new items. The 2023 U.S. military budget is $773 billion, an increase of 4% over 2022’s budget. The budget includes $177.5 billion for the Army, $194 billion for the Air Force and Space Force and $230.8 billion for the Navy and Marine Corps. Other country’s 2021 military budgets were China $293 billion, United Kingdom $68.4 billion and Russia $66 billion.

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Answer Overview

Response rates from 5.4m America voters.

41%
Increase
37%
Decrease
34%
Increase
37%
Decrease
7%
Increase, but only after our deficit is drastically reduced

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Other Popular Answers

Unique answers from America voters whose views went beyond the provided options.

 @93GXLNM from Virginia  answered…4yrs4Y

Streamline current spending and get rid of wasteful spending and only add funds accordingly

 @93BQNDS from Massachusetts  answered…4yrs4Y

Streamline current spending

 @94977RP from Maryland  answered…4yrs4Y

Streamline current spending and only add funds accordingly.

 @93SGY5Y from Washington D.C.  answered…4yrs4Y

Streamline current spending and get rid of wasteful spending

 @8CGQ8R5 from Pennsylvania  answered…6yrs6Y

Only increase during wartime and conflicts.

 @9D6PYY3 from Kansas  answered…3yrs3Y

The government should audit military spending to minimize wasteful spending. After that is done then modifications to the budget can be made.

 @8DPG3BX from North Carolina  answered…6yrs6Y

Keep the budget the same just reduce wasteful spending

 @8HPMZ5V from Florida  answered…6yrs6Y

Decrease, our current military spending is extremely high and we could always cut back marginally, and also put a large sum of money back towards other areas that need funding such as healthcare and education.

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 @ISIDEWITH submitted…2yrs2Y

Elizabeth Warren Walks Back Murder Comments

Congressional Democrats broadly denounced the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson Friday morning, after Republicans started accusing Sen. Elizabeth Warren of excusing violence.“No one's condoning this,” said Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.). “Violence never is the right answer for anything. And it was a horrible murder, a tragic loss for his family.” Warren this week condemned the shooting, but added that people “can be pushed only so far.”"We'll say it over and over," Warren said on MSNBC’S “The ReidOut.” " Violence is never the answer. This guy [Luigi Mangione] gets a trial who's allegedly killed the CEO of UnitedHealth, but you can only push people so far, and then they start to take matters into their own hands."In a statement to POLITICO, Warren said, “Violence is never the answer. Period. I should have been much clearer that there is never a justification for murder.” Top Republicans denounced Warren's comments and the walked-back rhetoric, with House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) calling it “inappropriate and dangerous.”Some House Democrats asked about the incident on Thursday pivoted the conversation to discuss policy options on health care or gun safety.“I don't really know that this is really a space that Congress normally weighs in on,” said Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas). “But at the end of the day, I think it’s an opportunity, because now people are talking about health care and to talk about the fact that this industry has honestly not been as helpful as it could be.”“Violence is never the answer,” said Rep. Troy Carter (D-La.). “We know that there are people suffering, there’s great challenges in healthcare. There's great challenges, and people have, in fact, been wronged, but a process of governance is the way to address that, not violence.”And Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) who denounced the murder, said the killer should be prosecuted and that “I do know that allegedly a ghost gun was used, and we should also ban ghost guns. There's no reason for them beyond the streets.”

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Based on 5.4m responses to this question.

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iSideWith. (2026). “Should the government increase or decrease military spending?” — Public Opinion Poll Results. Retrieved June 25, 2026, from https://www.isidewith.com/polls/1549397788

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