How Big Should the Defense Budget Be? In the presidential campaign, much of the debate over fiscal priorities has centered on social spending - Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, welfare. But the two candidates also have widely divergent views on the amount we should be spending on the military. President Obama has proposed about $500 billion in cuts over the next decade. If a budget impasse leads to the "fiscal cliff," about $500 billion more would be automatically cut. Mitt Romney would keep defense spending at 4 percent of the gross domestic product, about $2.1 trillion according to one study. What is an appropriate level of defense spending, when the federal budget is strained and the United States faces few major military threats? Read the Discussion