Strange bedfellows tackle military spending

[srellim234]

http://www.caivn.org/article/2010/08/20 ... ary-budget

I didn't realize that our military spending had become 47% of what the entire world spends on military. It can definitely stand to be scaled back a bit.

[AZhitman]

I wish they'd apply that same zealotry to the REAL wasteful spending that occurs every day.

That 47% number is clearly there for effect. It really doesn't tell us anything in and of itself. Of course our military spending is going to be far in excess of the world's.

NOTE: I concur, there's a LOT of areas where cutbacks could happen easily.

[srellim234]

As the father of a son who is in the Air Force I don't agree with you that all that money should be going to the military budget. Far too much of what we spend goes to support fat cat private corporations for weapons and support systems that are a waste. Not nearly enough goes to the people who we should be taking care of, the men and women in our armed forces. A perfect example is the recent example of the planes the military people didn't want but the lobbies got Congress to ram down their throats. Another is the ton of money we spent in no-bid contracts for Halliburton to electrocute our own personnel in Iraq without penalty.

Someone needs to scrutinize the spending and despite his promises the President sure isn't doing it. We simply can't afford the current rate of government spending and every expenditure in every area should be evaluated.

[IBCoupe]

Heard an interview on NPR with them a month or so ago. It was interesting to hear the two of them converse.

And I have to say I'm a bit tired of the supposed loyalty certain people are supposed to have towards military spending. So what if he was in the Air Force? So what if I'm employed by a defense contractor? I bite the hand that feeds me because it needs to be bitten, and if nobody else is going to do it, then I will. If it puts me on the street, fine.

[AZhitman]

The promise we heard during BO's campaign was that there are no sacred cows.

Fine. Cut where cutting makes sense, but don't ignore the pet projects of your voting bloc either...

And yes, the amount of waste is astounding. As an auditor, I'd LOVE to do some efficiency reviews of our military. Just because I criticize the way they do biz, doesn't mean I don't support them.

[IBCoupe]

It's a damned shame that you have to add that qualifier at the bottom, Greg. I mean that in the way that it's a damned shame that someone could equate criticism for military processes with hatred or a lack of support for the military.

[AZhitman]

I agree. There's a continuum of cluelessness in this country, and we all spend time at varying places ON that continuum... the qualifier is for those occasions where I'm a little bit further up that continuum than my audience.

[AZhitman]

Barney Frank and Keith Olbermann in the same room? Impossible.

Their competing idiocy would create a swirling vacuum that would rival the largest of black holes.

[stebo0728]

Barney Frank and Keith Olbermann in the same room? Impossible.

Their competing idiocy would create a swirling vacuum that would rival the largest of black holes.

Does idiocy swirl clockwise or counter-clockwise?

[IBCoupe]

You must be joking - loyalty is what makes our economy, government, intelligence agencies, military, and Corporate America work like clockwork. If everyone employed by the aforementioned organizations was so easily able to break their allegiance to those who pay them, feed them, and provide benefits to them, then the United States would have already collapsed on itself. Moreover, corporations wouldn't be able to compete with each other, collapsing the economy in the process.

Ron Paul was heartily fed by military personnel and family, both inactive and active. His success in the election race, although not enough to win, was attributed to those contributions. Allegiance/loyalty to those supporters should follow, it always does and always will in politics. Unfortunately Ron Paul is too ignorant to understand these political foundations - and he WILL feel the consequences in the upcoming presidential race in 2012.

Complete crap. Maybe you haven't called for it, but one of the loudest complaints about our political system is that the public wants our representatives to remain unbeholden to special interests. How can we cry out for impartiality and then spit on those who actually display it?

Has anyone read what Barney Frank told Olbermann in regards to the military cut legislation?:

"Frank told MSNBC's Keith Olbermann that he actually wanted to cut the entire F-35 program, but as long as military spending continued he would fight for his district's share of it."

How two-faced is that? Oh, I'll cut it out if I can, but if I can't then I still want it. Pick one side and stick with it, Frankie!

I heard him say it [EDIT: to NPR's Tom Ashbrook, if memory serves]. He's displaying the very loyalty to his constituence that you said Ron Paul should display. People support him because he supports them. It makes a certain kind of sense, and I do it every day I go to work: "You know, we probably don't need these new submarines, but dammit, if we're going to have them, I'm going to make sure that they're the best they can be." (Though the most recent analysis I've heard says that a future conflict between the U.S. and China, if it should happen, would be Naval in its nature)

Whereas Frank says, "You know, we really don't need these military projects, but if we're going to have it, I'm going to make damn sure that they do some good for the people I'm supposed to represent."

[AZhitman]

Barney Frank and Keith Olbermann in the same room? Impossible.

Their competing idiocy would create a swirling vacuum that would rival the largest of black holes.

Does idiocy swirl clockwise or counter-clockwise?

Definitely counter-clockwaise (also known as 'to the left').

[stebo0728]

Definitely counter-clockwaise (also known as 'to the left').

Hmmm ... sure about that? Seems to me to swirl "from the left" alot more often then "from the right"

[AZhitman]

Hell, I'm just an uneducated, gun-clutching, Bible-thumping, racist, misogynistic cretin from a fly-over state - I wouldn't know much about anything.... according to the Left.

[vikesfankevin1986]

I am a Staff Sergent in the United States Air Force. I did 4 years on active duty and have done 2 in the guard. I have been on 2 deployments in my career so I will just give my 2 cents about military spending...
We need to spend money on the military. A lot of our stuff is out dated and needs to be replaced. You also have to take in consideration that we spend a lot of money on jet fuel. Our pilots need their air time and training. They need to fly every month. BUT the military does waste a ton of money and supplies. You have gernerals trying to prove a point or leave their mark, so they do things that are totally not needed. When deployed, at a built up base, they build things just to keep people busy. Also they try to be cheap about it an end up with crappy things, such as buildings, so then they need to do repairs or totally get them redone. Any military supplies that are out dated or just not needed are thrown away. This last weekend we threw away stuff that was still new in the package. Because it's government money you cannot send it any where or sell it. With my main job being food service, I know we waste A TON of food. This last Thanksgiving alone we threw away 20 full turkeys, plus other stuff, because it did not get used. We used to be able to give the food to the food shelf and stuff like that but we are not allowed any more. We also are not allowed to take food home. It HAS to be thrown away because it is govenment money. I think they should at least find a way to donate supplies and food to support people whole need them in this country. Honestly we could feed thousands of people with the food we throw away on a weekly basis.
Also a lot of money goes to veterans and retired military. You can get pentions, disability pay, and money for school.
For example...I am a full time student and this is what I get...
For 3 years, my GI bill pays for my full tuition at the University of Minnesota. In addition to that I get 1,500 a month for housing. After those 3 years, being in the guard, I can get tuition reimbursment, which will pay for most of my school. I can also still take advantage of financial aid offered by the state. I also make 550 a month from disability pay and 250 a month from my guard weekend. While I am a full time student I make around 2,300 a month just from the government. That's not to mention other benifits. Yeah even I think I am ripping the government off, but I didn't make the rules and I did do my time and continue to. The military is open to a lot of people and you can take advantage of it.
I would just like to see the military work on finding better ways to help out the country as a whole as far as waste goes.

[vikesfankevin1986]

By the way, don't your benefits get cut-off at some point? Also, don't you have to be living on-campus to qualify for housing reimbursement from the government (assuming that $1,500 would be too high for UM on-campus housing and you are living in an apartment)?

I get 36 months of school being paid for. In Minnesota, they pay up to the price of tuition at the U of M. If I went some where else that was more expensive I would have to pay out of pocket. If I went some place cheaper they would still only pay for the cost of school, so I wouldn't be getting the full benifit of the GI bill. It doesn't matter if you are living on campus or not. The price they go by is the zip code of the school. For example if average rent in that zip code is 1,200 a month, that is what you get. As a bonus for signing up with the guard, I got the GI bill kicker. Basiclly it's and extra 300 a month on top of my GI bill. So in total I get 1,500. Once my GI bill runs out, because I am in the guard, I can use tuition reimbursement. This varies by state but I believe it's something like 7,500 per semester or year or something. I haven't looked into it. Basically as long as I am in the guard I get a huge discount on school. In addition to that, some jobs offer a signing bonus. There aren't many right now but when I joined the guard they gave me 20,000. 10,000 up front and 10,000 at my 3 year mark...the government takes their share though...It ends up being about 7,500 of that 10 grand.
Another thing is CLEP tests are free. For those of you that don't know what a CLEP test is, it's basically a test you take for a certain class and if you pass with a high enough score you get the credits for that class. The U of M doesn't accept many of them but a community college would take most and I have 33 credits from that. I am a math class away from an associates in Hotel/Fitness/Resturaunt management and I didn't pay a dime or step a foot in a class room.
The school benifits can be real good but everyone forgets that you are still working a full time job in the military. If you think you are going to do 4 years active duty and get a 4 year degree, you are crazy. If you don't go on too many deployments a 2 year is not hard to get...

[AZhitman]

Speaking of spending....

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opini ... 02919.html

[heliochrome85]

Barney Frank and Keith Olbermann in the same room? Impossible.

Their competing idiocy would create a swirling vacuum that would rival the largest of black holes.

but would pale in comparison to the one formed by a Palin written Tweet. or those of her followers.

[heliochrome85]

Hell, I'm just an uneducated, gun-clutching, Bible-thumping, racist, misogynistic cretin from a fly-over state - I wouldn't know much about anything.... according to the Left.

i hope you are including me in that since i believe i have called you all of those at some point.

[AZhitman]

Noted.