We have poured the national treasure into our military and people piss n moan about it all the time, myself included in some places, but right now, with the war in Ukraine, you are seeing where it went and what you got for all that money. VAST quatities are spent on non-flashy items but infrastructure wins wars. Our ability to project not only materiel but the ability to handle it in all the support equipment and personnel is an expensive item but would anyone be happy to see our guys loading ammo boxes one at a time into trucks the way Russia is doing?
Put a price on deterrence, was that money wasted? If the othe guy looks at what we've got and just says "hell no" was that wasted? If they start **** but dial it back when the fleet moves into range without a shot being fired, was that wasted?
There is a lot of money wasted and many times it is a result of political decisions made to buy senators with jobs in their state, etc. But when the **** starts, I want the best, all of the best, too much of the best in our guys hands at the tip of the spear.