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Budget has nearly doubled. doubled from roughly $290 billion to $530 billion. and that is not including the cost of the wars in iraq and afghanistan. $530 billion without them. add those in and we're spending more than $700 billion on our military and wars. now the defense budget is about to be put on a big diet. the outgoing secretary, leon panetta, has already signed on cutting a trillion from the defense budget. and frankly, a lot of people think we should go even lower. my colleague has put together charts that show just how insane american defense spending has gotten, and what the next de...

Chart number one, and i love this one. the u.s. spends more than any other nation on defense, by far. but in our budget, in 2011, we spent a total of $718 billion on defense and international security, including $159 billion we spent that year on the wars in iraq and afghanistan. together, that is $718 billion, which is more than we spend on medicare. and by the way, the defense budget you see there doesn't even include veteran's benefits. add those in, we're spending more on defense and medicaid and medicare and children's health insurance combined. speaking of combining things, how much does...

Defense and international security, including $159 billion we spent that year on the wars in iraq and afghanistan. together, that is $718 billion, which is more than we spend on medicare. and by the way, the defense budget you see there doesn't even include veteran's benefits. add those in, we're spending more on defense and medicaid and medicare and children's health insurance combined. speaking of combining things, how much does the u.s. spend on defense relative to the rest of the word? this is -- i find this unbelievable. we spend more than the next 13 biggest spending nations combined. he...

Generalities. now, president obama is not interested in taking negotiations further until republicans put a rate increase on the table. and this is where boehner is running into trouble. do you think they'll eventually put a rate increase on the table? >> they're either going to do that or take us into a very dangerous fiscal situation over the cliff. this is a loosy in the football situation and the president says, i'm not going to kick again until you show me some serious commitment. and keep in mind, this is the republican leadership that supported the $718 billion of savings in medicare th...

Are they talking about. they won't come clean with the american people on this. it's all in these vague generalities. now, president obama is not interested in taking negotiations further until republicans put a rate increase on the table. and this is where boehner is running into trouble. do you think they'll eventually put a rate increase on the table? >> they're either going to do that or take us into a very dangerous fiscal situation over the cliff.; @&h(lc% this is a lucy in the football situation and the president says, i'm not going to kick again until you show me some serious commitme...