March 11, 2013
-
Military Jet$
I read this article today (here http://finance.yahoo.com/news/pentagon-needs-12-6-billion-222706531.html should you want to read it) about how the military needs to budget $12.6 BILLION each year through 2037 to pay for the F-35 fighter jets it plans to buy. I have long complained about the amount of money our military spends and quite frankly, wastes. Now I’m not saying that these jets are a waste of money but it just goes to show you just how out of hand military spending has gotten. And this is just for one type of jet. Keep in mind we spend about two billion a week in Afghanistan.
Republicans like to complain and bitch about our nations debt and about the Democrats and Obama’s wild spending. I agree we all need to be very concerned about our debt and our spending. But spending on social programs are not what is driving the debt. It’s not even close. It is all the military, plain and simple. Yet, Republicans remain vastly silent our wild overspending on the military. I’ve said it before and I will say it again and again and again and again til I’m a heavy shade of deep blue in the face: you can’t be taken seriously about our debt unless you are willing to acknowledge and reform our military spending.
We recently had health care reform or Obamacare as people like to call it in our country that depending on who you ask, either saves or costs us a ton of money. And there is talk of immigration reform. And Wall Street reform. Well maybe now it is time for military reform. Certainly there has got to be a better way than paying a defense contractor $103 to do one load of laundry or $48 for a case of soda. If the deficit hawks like the Paul Ryans and Rand Pauls of Congress are actually serious about wanting to cut the debt, than perhaps they should comb through the military budget and find real solutions to drastically cut the cost of the military. Of course, the Republicans excuse is we can’t hurt military readiness by cutting the budget but honestly, are we vastly unprepared if the laundry costs $10 a load instead of $103?
Of course, I’m not an expert in the least on any of this. And I’m quite certain I’ve got very limited facts on military spending. And I certainly don’t know much about how our military budget is divided up. But all I’m saying is that is it honestly right to cut the heat for poor families while the behemoth that is the military goes on lining the pockets of evil defense contractors on the backs of the American taxpayer?
Comments (3)
The waste in government is too annoying to think about. The military is a problem but I see it everywhere. And there is nothing to stop them. The watchdog groups seem to do some good, but the government is like one of those rich kids whose parents give him a credit card and no spending limit. They don’t care where their parents get the money as long as it keeps coming. I must admit that I think the jets are way cool and the stealth bomber actually turns me on, but submarines I can do without.
@whyzat - yeah its crazy; i think its something like 38 cents of every tax dollar is wasted. i see the need for the jets and submarines. but i dont see the need for as many of everything that we have. we spend more on military than the next 12 countries combined. do we really need to spend that much?
@heckels - I certainly don’t think so. I’m not in on the decisions so I don’t know what their thinking is—hopefully it’s not “make my buddies rich” thinking. Another humongous waste that irks me is all the money we send to other countries. Some of those places are just holes into which our money is thrown year after year.