We are in agreement with the only slight quibble of "fix that first". Using that triage example again, we need to get the patient's heart beating again before we worry about changing the patients diet to address their heart disease. And sometimes a defibrillator is the "better idea" but you don't always have one available and CPR is better than nothing.
I disagree - I think the US has plenty available to subsidize the economy - rather than having mortgage payments be frozen why don't you just freeze the DoD budget and redirect that money toward economic subsidies - a hundredth of what the DoD eats in a year would float all the social services for like a decade.
Hiding behind the DoD being "politically untouchable" is cowardice when 200k folks are dead.
There are two different components to that. Would it be politically possible? And would it be effective ?
The answer to the political feasibility question is a straight no. There is not going to be political support to redirect DoD funds to direct stimulus payments to the population. We can't even agree to print new money to pay for more stimulus checks. This basically kills this conversation until at least November.
Whether it is practical is a more difficult question to answer. You were the one who brought up the whole economy is a circle of life idea. That DoD money doesn't just disappear. It goes to buy good and services and it goes to pay people. Abruptly stopping those payments would cause economic problems just like stopping people from paying mortgages. I would even bet that the multiplier is higher for DoD spending than mortgage spending based on the recipients of the money. Would this mean that DoD spending is better for the economy than mortgage spending? I honestly have no idea. Although I do agree that this country should reduce DoD spending and increase spending on social problems long term, it isn't as easy as making an immediate transition in the middle of a pandemic.
