Mitt Romney vows to increase military spending. We are now fucked either Way.

Mitt Romney vows to increase military spending. We are now fucked either Way. Romney is going to win the nomination and he has now made it his pledge to increase military spending. I thought we might have a chance if we got an intelligent conservative businessman in the whitehouse to replace Obama, but this pretty much solidifies it. We are fucked regardless. If Obama wins we get stiffed with Obamacare and entitlements, if Romney wins we get more non stop military spending/intervention. We can not fix the budget without eliminating atleast 25% of the military budget, and 25% of entitlement spending.

This seals the deal we are fucked no matter who wins. If Romney wins and takes military spending off the table dems wont compromise on entitlement spending, so we will inevitably end up changing nothing. Romney has now guaranteed we are fucked if he wins the nomination. I dont understand why republicans are so keen on blowing this kind of money, and more importantly wasting american lives on intervening militarily throughout the world.

This is fucking insane, the only chance we have to fix this mess now is if Ron Paul or Herman Cain wins the primary, and it isnt going to happen. Either that or we have to hope this is another Romney moment where he is lying to appease people for votes like he always does, either way we get stiffed with another 4 years of big spending or big lying in the whitehouse. Dammit Christie why didnt you run.

 

By Indira A.R. Lakshmanan

Oct. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney accused President Barack Obama of bowing to global adversaries and promised, if elected, to boost America’s military strength by expanding the Navy and missile defenses.

Romney, 64, presented his national-security vision in a speech yesterday set against a backdrop of grey-uniformed cadets at The Citadel, a military academy in Charleston, South Carolina. South Carolina has a traditionally pro-military Republican base, and carrying the early-primary state is important to winning the party’s nomination.

“America must lead the world, or someone else will,” Romney said, reprising the argument from his 2010 book, “No Apology,” that U.S. military strength and leadership are essential to deterring tyrants and keeping world peace. “In an American century, America has the strongest economy and the strongest military in the world.”

Romney pledged in his first 100 days in the White House to boost naval shipbuilding, deploy Navy carriers to deter Iran’s suspected military ambitions, increase intelligence cooperation with Israel, review military and aid spending in Afghanistan, and invest heavily in missile defense and cybersecurity.

At The Citadel and Oct. 6 aboard a World War II aircraft carrier in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, Romney repeatedly said Obama is slashing defense spending and gutting missile defense, assertions that are contradicted by official data.

Obama’s Budget

According to government figures, military spending under Obama is higher than it was under former President George W. Bush. Total Defense Department budget authority for non-war and war spending increased 3.6 percent from fiscal year 2009 to 2010, according to Pentagon budget data. Obama requested $708 billion in budget authority for war and non-war spending in fiscal 2011, an increase of 2.5 percent. Obama’s fiscal 2012 request was to keep core Pentagon spending about level, while the cost of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq decreased.

Two months ago, Congress passed legislation to cut the Pentagon’s spending requests over the next decade as part of the deficit-reduction plan demanded by Republicans in Congress. That doesn’t mean cutting defense spending; rather, increases may not keep pace with previous plans. Congress hasn’t finished the spending bill for fiscal 2012, which began Oct. 1.

Romney showed “once again that he is willing to say anything, regardless of the facts, to get elected,” Obama’s re- election campaign press secretary Ben LaBolt said in an e-mail.

Attacks on al-Qaeda

Romney didn’t acknowledge that Obama has ramped up military and Central Intelligence Agency attacks against al-Qaeda and its affiliates, such as the American Navy SEALs raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan and the drone strike that killed Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen. He also didn’t mention the role of U.S. military superiority within the NATO alliance -- providing Tomahawk cruise missiles, drones, and intelligence-gathering aircraft -- in driving Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi from power without any American casualties.

Democratic strategists have said the elimination of al- Qaeda leaders and the toppling of Qaddafi will play foreign- policy issues to the president’s advantage in voters’ minds.

“President Obama has degraded al-Qaeda and dealt huge blows to its leadership, including eliminating Osama Bin Laden, ended the war in Iraq, promoted our security in Afghanistan while winding down our commitment in a responsible way, and strengthened American leadership around the world,” LaBolt said.

‘Never Apologize’

Romney’s biggest applause lines in his half-hour speech included his pledge to “never apologize” for the U.S. -- a broadside against Obama, who he said has kowtowed to adversaries -- and his promise to “reserve the right to act alone to protect our vital national interests,” a critique of the president for seeking consensus on deterring global threats.

The Obama campaign said Romney “didn’t outline a strategy to strengthen America’s security and promote our interests and didn’t even identify defeating al-Qaeda as a goal.”

“Governor Romney raised real questions about his capacity to lead this country and wage the fight against terrorism,” LaBolt asserted.

The former Massachusetts governor, a front-runner in the race for the Republican nomination, on Oct. 6 released a list of foreign policy advisers, including many who served former President George W. Bush and advocated the invasion of Iraq. Several had supported so-called enhanced interrogation techniques or rendition of terrorism suspects to third countries, including former State Department counter-terrorism coordinator Cofer Black, former CIA Director Michael Hayden, and former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff.

Iraq Invasion

A number of Romney’s advisers had also promoted the Iraq invasion as a human-rights cause and a means to spread democracy through the Middle East.

Standing beneath a giant banner emblazoned with his slogan “Believe in America,” and flanked by the U.S. and South Carolina flags, Romney promised to “reverse the hollowing of our Navy” and increase naval shipbuilding from nine to approximately 15 ships annually and sustain the carrier fleet at 11, while investing more in missile defense systems and cybersecurity.

Aboard the USS Yorktown Oct. 6, Romney called for reinforcing the Navy and Air Force and adding 100,000 active- duty troops to reduce battlefield rotations.

Troop Costs

One U.S. service member costs the government $100,000 per year on average, according to the non-partisan Congressional Research Service, meaning Romney’s plan would cost $10 billion per year, or $100 billion over the 10-year timeframe for reducing the nation’s deficit. Romney’s campaign said he would pay for such increases by finding and cutting waste in the budget.

Romney has repeatedly criticized Obama for scrapping a plan to locate ground-based missile defense systems in Poland the Czech Republic, in part because of opposition from Russia. That plan was replaced by a ship-based system, still in development, that Defense Department officials said would more agile.

Obama, at the recommendation of then-Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, cut funding for the ground-based U.S. missile shield in the 2010 budget and instead increased support for sea- based systems. The Missile Defense Agency’s budget declined to $7.9 billion in fiscal year 2010 from $9 billion the previous year. It has since grown to $8.5 billion in 2011 and the agency is seeking $8.6 billion for fiscal 2012 budget.

Watching Iran

Romney also vowed to position a naval carrier task force in the eastern Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf region as a deterrent to Iran. The U.S., its European allies and Israel say Iran is trying to build a nuclear weapon. Iran says its program is for civilian energy use and medical research.

Romney proposed increasing military and intelligence coordination and assistance with Israel as a hedge against Iran, and making a national ballistic-missile defense system a priority.

Echoing a theme of American exceptionalism that was a favored Bush motif, Romney asserted that “God did not create this country to be a nation of followers. America is not destined to be one of several equally balanced global powers.”

Romney, a co-founder of Boston-based Bain Capital LLC, a private-equity firm, told listeners that he would ensure U.S. “leadership in multilateral organizations and alliances.” Romney has previously swiped at Obama for “leading from behind,” a reference to the White House’s push for NATO to take joint ownership of the military support campaign that allowed Libyan rebels to oust Qaddafi.

‘Isolationist Shell’

Romney also directed criticism at some fellow Republican candidates, saying it would be wrong “to crawl into an isolationist shell.”

Jon Huntsman, a former governor of Utah and rival for the Republican nomination, shot back at Romney yesterday in a piece written for Politico, calling the demand for defense spending increases “flawed,” especially “at a time when our country is streaking toward unsustainable levels of debt.”

“Simply advocating for more ships, more troops and more weapons isn’t a viable foreign policy. We need more agility, more intelligence and more economic engagement with the world,” argued Huntsman, a former ambassador to China under Obama who will lay out his own foreign policy ideas Oct. 10 in New Hampshire, which hosts the first primary contest.

Romney said the U.S. should spread democratic and capitalistic values worldwide, namely “open markets, representative government, and respect for human rights.” In his book, he presents U.S. leadership as essential to counter efforts he sees by China, Russia and radical Islamists to exert hegemony and spread their values.

Romney softened his drumbeat for a stronger military with the caveat that resorting to force “is always the least desirable and costliest option,” pledging to “employ all the tools of statecraft” first.

--With assistance from Sopen Shah, Doug Waller and Gopal Ratnam in Washington. Editors: Terry Atlas, Robin Meszoly

To contact the reporter on this story: Indira A.R. Lakshmanan in Charleston, South Carolina at ilakshmanan@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Silva at msilva34@bloomberg.net

 

Boy, you better get on with the program.

 

A rare moment of clarity for you Mr. Pad. Congratulations!

 

LOL, in this regard we may come closer than you think.

In terms of the order of my hatred of government spending, the number 1 thing i hate is spending money on the military over seas to police the world. I like Ron Pauls idea of bringing all our troops home immediately.

Every cruise missile we launch into a sand hut in the middle east costs us a million dollars, then we spend more to rebuild the hut. Imagine what this money could do at home, or else how much stronger the dollar would be if we didnt engage in this shit in the first place.

 

He's a politician, so what makes you think he'll do it?

 

Like i stated in my OP the best thing we can hope for now is that Romney is simply lying to people for votes. So my vote is best used now if i plug my nose and hope that the asshole i am voting for(Romney) is lying even more than his predecessor(Obama)..... that is some fucking choice.....

In the words of the liberal protestors.....THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE

 

Obama cut things like the airborne laser which was just starting to become effective. He cut the remaining orders for the F-22 and is relying on the F-35 which I'm not sure if it make sense but I've read that we are not keeping up on fighter development.

Obama is just like Carter and he and the demoncrats are going to gut the defense budget as soon as the SuperCommittee fails to make the cuts they are tasked with.

 

WTF for?

 

This is what i dont get, they want to increase military spending even while we wind down the wars in the middle east. It doesnt make any sense.

We are competing in an Arms race with the rest of the world, except we are the only ones who are running in this race, and we are currently in a full goddamn sprint. The other major countries in the world are sitting on the sidelines and laughing at us.

Any war with a major country at this point is not just going to be our weapons/soldiers vs. theirs, its going to be nukes, so whats the point? Why cant we simply get by with a military which is twice as big as china as opposed to having a military budget which is bigger then the next 10 countries combined?