There is no question in my mind that we spend too much on defense. EG-certain members of congress keep production lines going when the DOD doesn't want them. "The Army's M1 Abrams tank has careened across battlefields in U.S. combat operations since 1980. But now the 75-ton, American-made icon is at the center of the federal budget debate, with the Pentagon calling for production to halt and Congress determined to say no. The Army says taxpayers could save $1.3 billion in the defense spending bill for fiscal year 2012 if lawmakers agreed to temporarily shutter the nation's only tank production facility in Lima, Ohio, for at least three years, starting in 2013. The closure would be the first cessation of U.S. tank production since World War II. "We've got a very fit and complete fleet that we'll have at this time. And that's what has caused us to stop buying something that we no longer need," Lt. Gen. Robert Lennox, the Army's deputy chief of staff, told a Senate committee last month." http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/budget-cuts-army-plan-halt-abrams-tank-production/story?id=13582237 Of course there are many more, starting with a couple of wars that have gone on too long. I'm talking about troops in Japan and Europe as well as in the sandbox. Seneca
we still maintain 3 ways to destroy the soviet union,which no longer exists. heavy bombers, land based missiles and submarine based missiles. we have a large airforce base near me that houses a dozen b1 bombers. several years ago it was declared unnecessary by the military and was set to close by the base commission. somehow the state politicians got the decision reversed so it continues to do nothing but waste money. that is the way it goes. the republicans talk spending cuts but individually will allow no cuts for their state. we have one republican hypocrite called john thune who constantly rails about overspending. yesterday he was in town at the fair making speeches about how he will do everything in his power to make sure there are no cuts in the upcoming farm subsidy bill renewel. this at a time when farm prices are at all time highs and land prices are out of sight.
Sadly, this two faced nature on both sides makes necessary the 12 member super congress as the only way out of the morass. Seneca
You have to ignore the pundits and look at the facts: Clinton and Bush 43 did not kill Bin Laden - Obama did. And the President's exponential expansion of the drone wars have killed many, many high value terror targets in the Middle East and the Horn of Africa. You cannot argue with facts and you have to give credit were credit is due Scat. Personally, I think Obama missed his calling and he might just be Colin Powell with one hell of a mean streak. Seriously. The man is a warlord.
I re-read your post and concluded you meant he was better at being a war lord... not that he was "the best president in recent memory". (Personally, I think Bush was a total POS as prez.. and Odumbo is 10X WORSE... no accolades are due him just because he's propagated wars we never should have been in the first place.... and killing Bin Laden has no significance whatsoever in the big picture.) My fault. Gomen. OFF IGNORE! :>)
ST6 killed that camel jockey great grandson of a roaming bedouin piece of shit... All of a sudden Obama is spec ops in addition to being POTUS..whatta stud!
the poor are most likely to fight the wars for the rich. do they have skin in the game since their lives are on the line?
+1 A tax return or some other proof of income should be necesary. (Perhaps property ownership or a few other items could also qualify someone.) Otherwise, a representative democracy becomes the have-nots taking from the haves until we run out of other people's money. (To paraphrase several astute 19th century observors as well as Margaret Thatcher.)