disgusting. I can't imagine how much we could further humanity if this was reversed. (provided it wasn't needed- I don't mean that to mean starving the masses).
Let's be careful in the numbers we use. Yes, entitlement spending is high - ALL spending is high. Too high. By the end of 2008, the U.S. had spent approximately $900 billion in direct costs on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The government also incurred indirect costs, which include interests on additional debt and incremental costs, financed by the Veterans Administration, of caring for more than 33,000 wounded. Some experts estimate the indirect costs will eventually exceed the direct costs. As of June 2011, the total cost of the wars was approximately $3.7 trillion. This IN ADDITION to the 'regular' military budget. This is over 5 years, just not the same your 5 years ('09 to '13). I think everyone gets the idea that the FedGov is spending money we don't have at rates that make a drunken sailor blush with envy... Secretary of Defense Robert Gates wrote in 2009 that the U.S. should adjust its priorities and spending to address the changing nature of threats in the world: "What all these potential adversaries—from terrorist cells to rogue nations to rising powers—have in common is that they have learned that it is unwise to confront the United States directly on conventional military terms. The United States cannot take its current dominance for granted and needs to invest in the programs, platforms, and personnel that will ensure that dominance's persistence. But it is also important to keep some perspective. As much as the U.S. Navy has shrunk since the end of the Cold War, for example, in terms of tonnage, its battle fleet is still larger than the next 13 navies combined—and 11 of those 13 navies are U.S. allies or partners." The Gator Navy that supports the USMC, by itself, would be the 11th largest Navy on the planet. While the OP has made a good point, spending is out of control everywhere.
