Veteran Affairs
While I do agree that the combined Science budgets are ridiculously small and the Military spending is obscenely large, Veteran Affairs/Services should never be lumped in with the Military Budget. It directly benefits the civilian population mainly by providing health care to Veterans that have service related injuries. Those Veterans would otherwise represent a major, continuing drain on any purely civilian insurance and health care provider. That of course, is if the Veterans can even get coverage (which generally they can't) or will ever be able to afford that health care given the average drop in lifetime earning of 10% that is associated with Military Service.It also deceptively includes the GI Bill. The money moves through the VA's hands, but it didn't come from the government. The GI Bill is a financed primarily by Active Duty Service Members that pay/buy into the system. It is made sustainable by the fact that most Veterans never collect. The GI Bill held the distinction of being the only Government fund to continually have a surplus, regardless of the economy. The Post-9/11 GI Bill has sped up the payout, but it is still a mostly self-sustaining system.
