Andrew Yang on Homeland Security Democratic Presidential Challenger & Tech CEO

Threats of tomorrow are Chinese A.I. and military drones

YANG: As commander-in-chief, I think we need to be focused on the real threats of the 21st century. And what are those threats? Climate change, artificial intelligence, loose nuclear material, military drones, and non-state actors. And if you look, we're in the process of potentially losing the AI arms race to China right now, because they have more access to more data than we do, and their government is putting billions of dollars to work subsidizing the development of AI in a way that we are not. We are 24 years behind on technology. And I can say that with authority, because we got rid of the Office of Technology Assessment in 1995. Think about that timing. I guess they thought they'd invented everything. The next commander-in-chief has to be focused on the true threats of tomorrow. And that's what I will bring to the table as commander-in-chief.

Make domestic terrorism a primary focus of FBI, DHS, DOJ

Military dumps oil at end of year, to avoid losing budget

Now, why is he doing that? Because they have to use all the oil that's budgeted, or else they won't get the same amount budgeted the following year.

So this broke my heart to even hear this story. We have to take some of that $750 billion and start channeling it towards our infrastructure.

We know we need to make our infrastructure more sustainable over time. Right now, there are hundreds of billions being spent on our military that is generating a ton of emissions and pollution. And so if we take a significant portion of that budget and channel it towards infrastructure, we can make a good out of right now a huge net negative.

I signed a pledge to end the Forever Wars

I'd love to declassify Area 51, for government transparency

Yang's statement comes in response to a viral Facebook event to "storm Area 51" and "see them aliens," with 1.7 million people marked "going" on Facebook, and another 1.3 million indicating interest on the Sept. 20 event.

The joke even reached the attention of the US Air Force, prompting a warning to the potential participants to stay away from the military base: "The Nevada Test and Training Range is an area where the Air Force tests and trains combat aircraft. Any attempt to illegally access military training areas is dangerous."

Universal service is idealistic but wildly expensive

Setting up a structure for people is wildly expensive. Guaranteeing work would cost tens of thousands of additional dollars for recruitment, training, and infrastructure before anyone even gets paid. You would also wind up creating very large organizations and bureaucracies. The Peace Corps has over 1,000 full-time employees supporting 7,200 volunteers, for example.

Military spending on modern threats, not decades-old ones

Problems to be solved:
• The military budget makes up 54% of all discretionary spending, much of which is focused on defending against threats from decades ago as opposed to the threats of 2020.

As President, I will...
• Invest in the treatment of veterans, and ensure that soldiers are treated with care and respect upon returning home by a system that recognizes them as assets and contributors.
• Identify areas where military spending is going to programs that aren't making us safer in the context of modern warfare that can be eliminated or are redundant.
• Appoint a new Secretary of Cybersecurity to lead our efforts to secure our country's vital systems from cyberterrorism, which is one of the leading threats to our ongoing prosperity.
• Invest heavily in counterproliferation efforts to identify and secure sources of weapons-grade nuclear material, including offering to buy such material for exorbitant prices.

Invest in equipment for technical superiority

Rechannel $60B per year from defense to infrastructure

Too much military spending focuses in decades-old threats

He believes that much of the military budget "is focused on defending against threats from decades ago as opposed to the threats of 2020."