Defense spending increases aren’t a result of inflation, btw, but I am against most funding there too. I am talking about a surgery costing more now than a surgery cost 30 years ago. Defense spending is up because we have MORE weapons, MORE soldiers and MORE wars, not terribly increased costs per weapon, etc. Yes, it costs more to outfit a soldier now than it did back then, but its constant with inflation if you take out the technology upgrades which isn’t technically inflation. A doctor checking your heartbeat with a stethoscope costs significantly more now than it did 30 years (even after adjusted for inflation) because of paperwork and the lack of price controls. When a 3rd party pays, you don’t have the incentive to shop around and find a cheap place and Doctors have no incentive to lower the price. Paperwork and regulations along with a lack of a reasonable malpractice lawsuit caps also contribute a lot.

And I find it funny you say I am committing a fallacy but you just do the same thing but without the facts. If you look at the historical data, you don’t see the costs escalate UNTIL government intervenes. Facts are stubborn things.

We call your argument “false cause” fallacy. Because two things are associated, does not mean that they are causally related.

1. Could it be that government is involved in these things BECAUSE costs are so high?
2. If healthcare costs increase because of government involvement, why do countries that have more involvement actually have health care costs of half of those of the US?

If it is true that the government is involved in healthcare as a cause of costs increasing, this is only because current government involvement is the tail wagging the dog; i.e. insurance companies and big pharm have influence government policy in a way to shore up their profits.

Finally…Your facts about increased costs in education and healthcare are incorrect. The greatest increase in public sector spending has been in so-called “defense spending”.