so what should they be spending money on then? If it was my choice i would go scaled for population, full spectrum military, over entiltments for ungrateful foreigners and welfare for people who dont want to work.
Reduce spending and cut taxes. Armed Forces are pretty irrelevant in a world of integrated supra-regional supply chains. No developed or moderately-developing nation can be attacked/invaded due to the massive economic loss that would rise from it. To quote Bastiat, "When goods do not cross borders, soldiers will".