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On Defense Spending
Mar 16, 2019 06:05:00   #
ACP45 Loc: Rhode Island
 
Here are a few interesting facts to consider:

- Although the U.S. constitutes only 5% of the world's population, America boasts almost 50% of the world's total military expenditure, spending more on the military than the next 19 biggest spending nations combined.

- In fact, the Pentagon spends more on war than all 50 states combined spend on health, education, welfare, and safety.

- Since 2001, the U.S. government has spent more than $4.7 trillion waging its endless wars.

You know what happens to tax dollars that are left over at the end of the government’s fiscal year? Government agencies—including the Department of Defense—go on a “use it or lose it” spending spree so they can justify asking for money in the next fiscal year.

We’re not talking chump change, either.

We’re talking $97 billion worth of wasteful spending.

According to an investigative report by Open the Government, among the items purchased during the last month of the fiscal year when government agencies go all out to get rid of these “use it or lose it” funds: Wexford Leather club chair ($9,241), china tableware ($53,004), alcohol ($308,994), golf carts ($673,471), musical equipment including pianos, tubas, and trombones ($1.7 million), lobster tail and crab ($4.6 million), iPhones and iPads ($7.7 million), and workout and recreation equipment ($9.8 million).

So much for draining the swamp.

Anyone who suggests that the military needs more money is either criminally clueless or equally corrupt, because the military isn’t suffering from lack of funding—it’s suffering from lack of proper oversight.

Where President Trump fits into that scenario, you decide.

https://www.rutherford.org/publications_resources/john_whiteheads_commentary/pity_the_nation_war_spending_is_bankrupting_america

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Mar 16, 2019 07:36:48   #
ACP45 Loc: Rhode Island
 
ADDENDUM
The Office‘s Oscar Martinez explains to Michael Scott in “The Surplus”:

“Your mommy and daddy give you $10 to open up a lemonade stand, so you go out and you buy cups and you buy lemons and you buy sugar. And now you find out that it only cost you $9, so you have an extra dollar,” he explains. “So you can give that dollar back to mommy and daddy. But guess what: Next summer, and you ask them for money, they’re going to give you $9 because that’s what they think it cost to run the stand. So what you want to do is spend that dollar on something now, so that your parents think that it cost $10 to run the lemonade stand.”

It works the same way at the federal level. Just replace that $10 with $544.1 billion—the amount federal agencies spent on contracts in the last fiscal year.

Of that $544.1 billion, almost $97 billion was spent in September 2018, the final month of the fiscal year, including $53.3 billion in the final seven days of the month. That’s compared to $47 billion spent in the entire month of August. As the fiscal year came crashing to an end, bureaucrats apparently did their best to spend as much money as quickly as possible.

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Mar 16, 2019 07:41:30   #
Liberty Tree
 
ACP45 wrote:
Here are a few interesting facts to consider:

- Although the U.S. constitutes only 5% of the world's population, America boasts almost 50% of the world's total military expenditure, spending more on the military than the next 19 biggest spending nations combined.

- In fact, the Pentagon spends more on war than all 50 states combined spend on health, education, welfare, and safety.

- Since 2001, the U.S. government has spent more than $4.7 trillion waging its endless wars.

You know what happens to tax dollars that are left over at the end of the government’s fiscal year? Government agencies—including the Department of Defense—go on a “use it or lose it” spending spree so they can justify asking for money in the next fiscal year.

We’re not talking chump change, either.

We’re talking $97 billion worth of wasteful spending.

According to an investigative report by Open the Government, among the items purchased during the last month of the fiscal year when government agencies go all out to get rid of these “use it or lose it” funds: Wexford Leather club chair ($9,241), china tableware ($53,004), alcohol ($308,994), golf carts ($673,471), musical equipment including pianos, tubas, and trombones ($1.7 million), lobster tail and crab ($4.6 million), iPhones and iPads ($7.7 million), and workout and recreation equipment ($9.8 million).

So much for draining the swamp.

Anyone who suggests that the military needs more money is either criminally clueless or equally corrupt, because the military isn’t suffering from lack of funding—it’s suffering from lack of proper oversight.

Where President Trump fits into that scenario, you decide.

https://www.rutherford.org/publications_resources/john_whiteheads_commentary/pity_the_nation_war_spending_is_bankrupting_america
Here are a few interesting facts to consider: br ... (show quote)


There is not a single federal department that could not absorb a cut just in better management and waste control.

Reply
 
 
Mar 16, 2019 07:53:48   #
son of witless
 
ACP45 wrote:
Here are a few interesting facts to consider:

- Although the U.S. constitutes only 5% of the world's population, America boasts almost 50% of the world's total military expenditure, spending more on the military than the next 19 biggest spending nations combined.

- In fact, the Pentagon spends more on war than all 50 states combined spend on health, education, welfare, and safety.

- Since 2001, the U.S. government has spent more than $4.7 trillion waging its endless wars.

You know what happens to tax dollars that are left over at the end of the government’s fiscal year? Government agencies—including the Department of Defense—go on a “use it or lose it” spending spree so they can justify asking for money in the next fiscal year.

We’re not talking chump change, either.

We’re talking $97 billion worth of wasteful spending.

According to an investigative report by Open the Government, among the items purchased during the last month of the fiscal year when government agencies go all out to get rid of these “use it or lose it” funds: Wexford Leather club chair ($9,241), china tableware ($53,004), alcohol ($308,994), golf carts ($673,471), musical equipment including pianos, tubas, and trombones ($1.7 million), lobster tail and crab ($4.6 million), iPhones and iPads ($7.7 million), and workout and recreation equipment ($9.8 million).

So much for draining the swamp.

Anyone who suggests that the military needs more money is either criminally clueless or equally corrupt, because the military isn’t suffering from lack of funding—it’s suffering from lack of proper oversight.

Where President Trump fits into that scenario, you decide.

https://www.rutherford.org/publications_resources/john_whiteheads_commentary/pity_the_nation_war_spending_is_bankrupting_america
Here are a few interesting facts to consider: br ... (show quote)


So spoke the ignorant in the 1920s and 1930s. Then came the 1940s. Those who do not know history all v**e Democrat.

Reply
Mar 16, 2019 08:23:19   #
lpnmajor Loc: Arkansas
 
ACP45 wrote:
Here are a few interesting facts to consider:

- Although the U.S. constitutes only 5% of the world's population, America boasts almost 50% of the world's total military expenditure, spending more on the military than the next 19 biggest spending nations combined.

- In fact, the Pentagon spends more on war than all 50 states combined spend on health, education, welfare, and safety.

- Since 2001, the U.S. government has spent more than $4.7 trillion waging its endless wars.

You know what happens to tax dollars that are left over at the end of the government’s fiscal year? Government agencies—including the Department of Defense—go on a “use it or lose it” spending spree so they can justify asking for money in the next fiscal year.

We’re not talking chump change, either.

We’re talking $97 billion worth of wasteful spending.

According to an investigative report by Open the Government, among the items purchased during the last month of the fiscal year when government agencies go all out to get rid of these “use it or lose it” funds: Wexford Leather club chair ($9,241), china tableware ($53,004), alcohol ($308,994), golf carts ($673,471), musical equipment including pianos, tubas, and trombones ($1.7 million), lobster tail and crab ($4.6 million), iPhones and iPads ($7.7 million), and workout and recreation equipment ($9.8 million).

So much for draining the swamp.

Anyone who suggests that the military needs more money is either criminally clueless or equally corrupt, because the military isn’t suffering from lack of funding—it’s suffering from lack of proper oversight.

Where President Trump fits into that scenario, you decide.

https://www.rutherford.org/publications_resources/john_whiteheads_commentary/pity_the_nation_war_spending_is_bankrupting_america
Here are a few interesting facts to consider: br ... (show quote)


The Defense problem is twice as large as most people think. There is an extra fund for defense called the Contingency fund, which is nearly as large as the "official" defense budget. This extra fund is used for the actual operations of all our current wars, while the official defense funding is used to buy new toys, maintenance of current inventory, and paying personnel. This sneaky "audit proof" accounting measure, allows for unrestrained spending.

Reply
Mar 16, 2019 09:48:33   #
jimpack123 Loc: wisconsin
 
lpnmajor wrote:
The Defense problem is twice as large as most people think. There is an extra fund for defense called the Contingency fund, which is nearly as large as the "official" defense budget. This extra fund is used for the actual operations of all our current wars, while the official defense funding is used to buy new toys, maintenance of current inventory, and paying personnel. This sneaky "audit proof" accounting measure, allows for unrestrained spending.


Don't forget about upkeep for that the great wall of Mexico lol

Reply
Mar 16, 2019 11:09:23   #
ACP45 Loc: Rhode Island
 
son of witless wrote:
So spoke the ignorant in the 1920s and 1930s. Then came the 1940s. Those who do not know history all v**e Democrat.


Are you disputing the numbers? We're talking about waste and unaccountability, not legitimate defense. Re-read the post and compare what we spend now on supposed defense as a per cent of GDP, and compare it to what we spent in the 20's and 30's, and then maybe we can have a fruitful discussion.

Reply
 
 
Mar 17, 2019 03:32:41   #
woodguru
 
ACP45 wrote:
Here are a few interesting facts to consider:

- Although the U.S. constitutes only 5% of the world's population, America boasts almost 50% of the world's total military expenditure, spending more on the military than the next 19 biggest spending nations combined.

- In fact, the Pentagon spends more on war than all 50 states combined spend on health, education, welfare, and safety.

- Since 2001, the U.S. government has spent more than $4.7 trillion waging its endless wars.

You know what happens to tax dollars that are left over at the end of the government’s fiscal year? Government agencies—including the Department of Defense—go on a “use it or lose it” spending spree so they can justify asking for money in the next fiscal year.

We’re not talking chump change, either.

We’re talking $97 billion worth of wasteful spending.

According to an investigative report by Open the Government, among the items purchased during the last month of the fiscal year when government agencies go all out to get rid of these “use it or lose it” funds: Wexford Leather club chair ($9,241), china tableware ($53,004), alcohol ($308,994), golf carts ($673,471), musical equipment including pianos, tubas, and trombones ($1.7 million), lobster tail and crab ($4.6 million), iPhones and iPads ($7.7 million), and workout and recreation equipment ($9.8 million).

So much for draining the swamp.

Anyone who suggests that the military needs more money is either criminally clueless or equally corrupt, because the military isn’t suffering from lack of funding—it’s suffering from lack of proper oversight.

Where President Trump fits into that scenario, you decide.

https://www.rutherford.org/publications_resources/john_whiteheads_commentary/pity_the_nation_war_spending_is_bankrupting_america
Here are a few interesting facts to consider: br ... (show quote)


I have written a tremendous amount about waste at a hundred levels, every base, every squadron, every warehouse on every base... they all surplus things using up budgets.

My brother in law was a civil service plumber in North Carolina. He was told to go through base supply for a $50 part and was charged $1100. He complained to his boss and was told to do it and don't worry about it. A month later he needed the same part so he went to the local home improvement store, got it for $50, he went to the base commander and showed him the two receipts. The base supplier lost their contract, and his boss lost his job. Gary got a check for $4500 for pointing out a situation that was so fraudulent.

There would be a lot of whistle blowers squealing off the waste they see if they knew they could get paid for it.

Reply
Mar 17, 2019 12:06:55   #
jimpack123 Loc: wisconsin
 
woodguru wrote:
I have written a tremendous amount about waste at a hundred levels, every base, every squadron, every warehouse on every base... they all surplus things using up budgets.

My brother in law was a civil service plumber in North Carolina. He was told to go through base supply for a $50 part and was charged $1100. He complained to his boss and was told to do it and don't worry about it. A month later he needed the same part so he went to the local home improvement store, got it for $50, he went to the base commander and showed him the two receipts. The base supplier lost their contract, and his boss lost his job. Gary got a check for $4500 for pointing out a situation that was so fraudulent.

There would be a lot of whistle blowers squealing off the waste they see if they knew they could get paid for it.
I have written a tremendous amount about waste at ... (show quote)

I wonder if that would happen to Trump if he showed his taxes lol

Reply
Mar 17, 2019 13:43:16   #
son of witless
 
ACP45 wrote:
Are you disputing the numbers? We're talking about waste and unaccountability, not legitimate defense. Re-read the post and compare what we spend now on supposed defense as a per cent of GDP, and compare it to what we spent in the 20's and 30's, and then maybe we can have a fruitful discussion.


I am not disputing your numbers, I am disputing your central point which seems to me that large military spending is unneeded. You have a point about waste, but so ? Any big government spending is wasteful and can always be done more efficiently, but that is a separate issue. My point about the 1920s and 1930s is that military spending was low in those years which we paid for in American blood in WW2.

Weakness gets attacked. Mussolini attacked the weakness of Ethiopia. Mussolini and Hitler attacked the military and political weakness of Britain and France. Hitler attacked the military weakness of the Soviet Union after Stalin's purges had crippled the Red Army. Japan attacked the military weakness of the US at Pearl Harbor.

America and Russia during the Cold War wastefully spent hundreds of $ Billions on military pr********ns, however, thanks to the fact that both sides were afraid of one another WW3 never had to be fought. I don't know, but after the bloodshed of the two World Wars, I think that money was well spent. In fact, more than well spent.

Reply
Mar 19, 2019 16:05:49   #
ACP45 Loc: Rhode Island
 
son of witless wrote:
I am not disputing your numbers, I am disputing your central point which seems to me that large military spending is unneeded. You have a point about waste, but so ? Any big government spending is wasteful and can always be done more efficiently, but that is a separate issue. My point about the 1920s and 1930s is that military spending was low in those years which we paid for in American blood in WW2.

Weakness gets attacked. Mussolini attacked the weakness of Ethiopia. Mussolini and Hitler attacked the military and political weakness of Britain and France. Hitler attacked the military weakness of the Soviet Union after Stalin's purges had crippled the Red Army. Japan attacked the military weakness of the US at Pearl Harbor.

America and Russia during the Cold War wastefully spent hundreds of $ Billions on military pr********ns, however, thanks to the fact that both sides were afraid of one another WW3 never had to be fought. I don't know, but after the bloodshed of the two World Wars, I think that money was well spent. In fact, more than well spent.
I am not disputing your numbers, I am disputing yo... (show quote)


We both agree that a strong national defense is needed. The question becomes how much is necessary.

Take a look at the following chart from Wikipedia: The US spends almost 3 X what China spends, and almost 10 X what Russia spends. Guns or Butter? How much is enough?



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Mar 21, 2019 19:33:12   #
son of witless
 
ACP45 wrote:
We both agree that a strong national defense is needed. The question becomes how much is necessary.

Take a look at the following chart from Wikipedia: The US spends almost 3 X what China spends, and almost 10 X what Russia spends. Guns or Butter? How much is enough?


You seem to think that being on parity with Russia and China would be a good thing. Either they should spend more or we should spend less.

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