I feel like Big Crying Guy is more the admin who leaves a bottle of your favorite Scotch on the desk with a handwritten note saying, "Great job today, Sir."
Aside from how he probably doesn't care if American troops get murdered, unless it directly affects his re-election chances?
I have got to think this will directly affect his re-election chances because I am pretty sure this is not sitting well with the usually conservative members of the Armed Forces.
Of course, the subject quickly slipped the mind of our "liberal" MSM so who knows, maybe the men and women in our military will forget as well...
Contractors who underbid for the job and then mark it up. Work that is just not done. Basic corruption at all levels from Congresscritters making sure that major ticket items that aren't even used as legacy systems are still built in their districts and shipped directly to the scrap heap on down. Mismanagement from people who are penny smart and dollar stupid. R & D on systems that end up never working due to bungling and interference at the Federal level with a bunch of sunk costs before anyone stops it. Industry lobbyists getting their industry cut. And so on.
Some of it is legit. Things do cost money. By design we are the largest part of NATO and always in the lead so we contribute more. By design internation shipping on the oceans is secured by the US Navy. We are the lead with pretty much all our various treaties and partnerships and that does cost us.
Right now troop pay, benefits, quality of life and support, and the VA account for about 24% of the total military budget. The VA gets counted because even though it's a separate budget item it is still figured as part of overall military spending because it only exists because the military creates veterans to utilize it.
Had the Sanders backed thing that got voted on the other day gone through, the one to cut 10% right off the top, gone through that 10% would have come exclusively from those parts. As it is, the no votes were used as a way to beat up on Harris and Duckworth for not being sufficiently progressive and hurt their standing as potential VP nominees. Because even that, even the claim of reigning in spending, is just as excuse to use the military as a political cudgel to hurt or elevate other politician's standing with no care to what it means for the actual troops.
Both of my brothers served in West Germany in the '80s, but they didn't do any fighting. One of them was a forward observer in a Cavalry unit at the East German border. He was kind of a cowboy and I'm still sort of surprised he didn't set off WW3.
We would also have a military with all the professionalism of Barr's shitheads in the Parks Police and the dregs he pulled from the other agencies.
Draftees, people who don't sign up of their own free will, will always dead down the level of professionalism. They have no incentive to be professional.
Besides, even if the sons and daughters of the rich, powerful, and connected were pressed into service they would all end up in non deployable yet critical billets anytime danger was afoot. They will still not be going to war.
I had 3 uncles who fought in combat in WWll. They were factory workers. Most Americans served in some way or another. Joe Kennedy Jr. died in combat, and even movie stars went and fought.
If a war isn't worth EVERYONE in the country having some skin in the game, it isn't worth fighting (and most of them aren't worth fighting). We haven't fought a war in 75 years that made sense to fight.
I feel like Big Crying Guy is more the admin who leaves a bottle of your favorite Scotch on the desk with a handwritten note saying, "Great job today, Sir."
Aside from how he probably doesn't care if American troops get murdered, unless it directly affects his re-election chances?
I have got to think this will directly affect his re-election chances because I am pretty sure this is not sitting well with the usually conservative members of the Armed Forces.
Of course, the subject quickly slipped the mind of our "liberal" MSM so who knows, maybe the men and women in our military will forget as well...
Contractors who underbid for the job and then mark it up. Work that is just not done. Basic corruption at all levels from Congresscritters making sure that major ticket items that aren't even used as legacy systems are still built in their districts and shipped directly to the scrap heap on down. Mismanagement from people who are penny smart and dollar stupid. R & D on systems that end up never working due to bungling and interference at the Federal level with a bunch of sunk costs before anyone stops it. Industry lobbyists getting their industry cut. And so on.
Some of it is legit. Things do cost money. By design we are the largest part of NATO and always in the lead so we contribute more. By design internation shipping on the oceans is secured by the US Navy. We are the lead with pretty much all our various treaties and partnerships and that does cost us.
Right now troop pay, benefits, quality of life and support, and the VA account for about 24% of the total military budget. The VA gets counted because even though it's a separate budget item it is still figured as part of overall military spending because it only exists because the military creates veterans to utilize it.
Had the Sanders backed thing that got voted on the other day gone through, the one to cut 10% right off the top, gone through that 10% would have come exclusively from those parts. As it is, the no votes were used as a way to beat up on Harris and Duckworth for not being sufficiently progressive and hurt their standing as potential VP nominees. Because even that, even the claim of reigning in spending, is just as excuse to use the military as a political cudgel to hurt or elevate other politician's standing with no care to what it means for the actual troops.
Both of my brothers served in West Germany in the '80s, but they didn't do any fighting. One of them was a forward observer in a Cavalry unit at the East German border. He was kind of a cowboy and I'm still sort of surprised he didn't set off WW3.
We'd have far fewer wars if Congresscritter's kids had to fight. Also, it's cheaper.
He was negative two.
lol. i was told there would be no math.
Recipes for disaster? 😏
We would also have a military with all the professionalism of Barr's shitheads in the Parks Police and the dregs he pulled from the other agencies.
Draftees, people who don't sign up of their own free will, will always dead down the level of professionalism. They have no incentive to be professional.
Besides, even if the sons and daughters of the rich, powerful, and connected were pressed into service they would all end up in non deployable yet critical billets anytime danger was afoot. They will still not be going to war.
I certainly agree with you. Just that the lip service and trumpery seems to have shifted further towards cops lately.
I had 3 uncles who fought in combat in WWll. They were factory workers. Most Americans served in some way or another. Joe Kennedy Jr. died in combat, and even movie stars went and fought.
If a war isn't worth EVERYONE in the country having some skin in the game, it isn't worth fighting (and most of them aren't worth fighting). We haven't fought a war in 75 years that made sense to fight.
And we had a draft every year from WWII to the end of Viet Nam. Roughly 100K people a year were drafted every year.
A draft is not the way to go. It's really not.
Just raise taxes do wars aren't paid for on credit should stop most of it.
Well, certainly not to the troops.
Trump poses like a used car salesman, who got caught selling an '89 Dodge Omni without working brakes.
Abstract Puffery is the name of my new ETSY store.
Well, people are saying…