Yup. We made the USSR spend itself into oblivion. Notice the cold war is gone? Those of us who grew up with that REAL threat are thankful that it is gone.
The Russians (mainly the Mafia) are helping the terrorists (despite what you may think and read in the papers) along with N Korea and Ukraine they all sell stuff to the enemies of the USA. Under Communism there were no such threats. The peace dividend that Reagan (I like the guy by the way) promised and intended, was spent by the neo con gangsters following his noble footsteps. If you do not see this you live under a rock and believe all the crap the feed you on Fox. I honestly pity you.
I believe the Stock Trader's Almanac may have some sort of statistical reports on the historical tendencies of the markets to react under various political transitions. Indeed, they have a 4-year cycle for publishing almanacs adjusted to which year we are in for the administration. As much as I have an opinion about what I'd like for the election outcome, that's not what's most important. I gotta' keep a roof over my family, so I'll do what I have to adapt to changing circumstances whatever they may be. If you really have a strong opinion about which way you want the election to go, consider getting involved as a volunteer on the campaign of your choice. It is a great way to get marketing, advertising, & salesmanship experience on someone else's dime. Also, you get massive leverage by amplifying your vote by all the voters you help to switch to your favored candidate. Every game has an angle that can be played to your advantage.
The history of the federal debt http://www.publicdebt.treas.gov/opd/opdhisto4.htm over the period of the demise of USSR suggests that the bills for that particular "victory" for the USA are still being paid. I'm not certain my unborn grandchildren will be so "thankful that it is gone"
The prudence of allocating the funds necessary to make America safer and to reduce or remove foreign threats can be debated infinitum. I'll end my discussion of this thread with a quote from Albert Einstein; "The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it." -- A. Einstein
I am not sure what to say. Our politicos raved about the reduction in the tax rate for dividends. I have just tried to figure the tax rate on "qualified dividends" and it is ridiculous. It doesn't matter who is in the White House as long as we have millionaires and lawyers in the Congress, the millionaires who want to give away someone else's money and lawyers who want to write laws so that they can go out and make big money interpreting the confounded legislation they have concocted.
After the disorderly collapse of the USSR, and the chaos that followed that collapse (i.e. Afghanistan & Bin Laden), you can darn well bet one of the scariest scenarios for US foreign policy would be anything like that happening with China. Gradual evolution is much safer than revolution. A power vacuum is far more scary than a foreign power with whom you can deal despite having strong philosophical differences. Reagan admonished, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" Can you imagine any US president (Repub. or Dem.) visiting Taiwan and demanding that China stop testing missiles into the Straits of Taiwan? Ain't gonna' happen.