Israel is too, almost every Israeli I've ever met (all outside of israel) left in part because they were sick of paying taxes to support the haredim, whose population is growing fast
so if other nations ask us for en lement military help, that's an excuse for rampant military spending that bankrupts the country? Holy that's some backwards logic.
"Sorry folks, we know you've paid taxes your entire life and would rather see tax dollars go toward paying off terrorists or towards domestic aid for other Americans, but Netanyahu told us we need to invade Iran, so right now that's where your tax dollars are going."
Last edited by DUNCANownsKOBE; 12-12-2012 at 06:41 PM.
I read a little over a year that the US has 662 foreign military bases in 30+ countries, and I'm guessing that number has barely changed or gone up. There's no logical reason why a country 16 trillion dollars in debt has so many foreign military bases in so many countries, a lot of which in countries perfectly capable of defending themselves. Even countries not capable of defending themselves shouldn't be getting free military personnel from us when we're going bankrupt.
Comparisons to "other" first world countries are fairly meaningless, tbh. Any other Americas out there? Not really.
Alot of truth in this.
Right, most other 1st world countries would tell Netanyahu to shove it up his ass if he asked them to support Israel's conflict with the rest of the middle east.
Some comments:
2) I don't know about "palatial" housing. Certainly, not on Hickam, though it is quite large. (Roughly four/five bedroom houses for the 3 and 4 stars; we have comm that we install there.)
3) I'm amazed that Gen Ward got demoted in the first place. You're pretty much invulnerable once you put on the 3rd star... enlisted members screw up and lose stripes and get kicked out, officer leaders do the same and are asked politely to retire.
4) The only personal notice I've taken of this is when it comes to comm: senior officers want things yesterday, and if it means breaking a few DISA rules to do so, well too bad for network security.
5) And as far as the golf courses go, most of them are for morale, and most are supplemented by non-funded programs. (Ie, they have to pay their way using sales at the pro shop, fees, etc etc.) Taxpayers also pay for movie theatres (both deployed and home), pools and various other quality-of-life establishhments on base. (Again, most of these are supplemented. I can't play golf for free on most courses.)
The Bavarian Alps is a military-only resort... and I hope to take advantage of it one day.
6) They're for morale! Actually, in many cases, the bands perform at various special functions, and also travel to deployed areas. I'm not sure that hiring out bands would be cheaper than taxpayer dollars. I guess you could argue something like, "The military shouldn't have bands or play music!" but that's never going to happen. It's part of the tradition of military service, going way back to... well, at least a few hundred years...
7) Definitely happens a ton. I actually got to attend the Air and Space Conference this year (our squadron received a Citation of Honor and I was chosen to help represent, woot), and pretty much every booth that you stop at has retired Cols/Gens talking about their products.
Yes and no. Our base pay isn't tax free, but some of our allowances (housing, food, etc) are, because they change from location to location. Also, many overseas deployed locations are tax-free.
A lot of bases actually closed down or were merged with other bases due to the BRAC study (Base Realignment and Closure)... for instance, Hickam AFB and Pearl Harbor NS are now combined into Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.
That said, there's a ton of "Camp X" or "Forward Operation Station Y" that have sprouted up overseas due to the wars. I would love to see a lot of those go away. I realize we'd lose some of our under-30-mins-or-your-predator-missile-is-free ability, but I'd be willing to sacrifice that ability.
Leadership certainly wouldn't.
DoK is soft on terror.... there, I said it!
Fort Monmouth was basically closed here last year, but nothing has been done with it. It actually been driving me kinda crazy to drive through hundreds of fenced, empty homes for years now. Especially after Sandy, and so many people without shelter or anything. And the grass keeps getting cut, etc, so there's money still being dumped there where nobody is living and nothing is happening with it.
True, but by the time you file if you have a family, a soldiers federal tax liability is usually zero.
Defense=In the Cons ution
Social Security= Not
Medicaid= Not
Medicare= Not
What sucks is us at the lower end are always the ones who get hurt from Def cuts. Gen will still get their five col, 5 maj, 5 capt, twenty lt's, chefs, chauffeurs, maids, etc. Pentegon will still get their sweep heart deals for buying POS's like the MATV and not Dragonskin. Meanwhile we lose man power, pay raises, promotion opportunities, equipment, quality healthcare, etc.
Debatable, at the very least... to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States;
And while I would agree that 'welfare' in that context is to mean 'well-being' and not welfare as we know it today, all those programs you list would fall within the 'well-being' category.
Plus the point isn't that Defense spending should stop, but how big it needs to be. There's no mention of any of that in Article 1, Section 8.
Time to get a job in the private sector.... right?
I like the part in the cons ution that says we have to subsidize Europe's social democracies with all our military spending and overseas bases.
Europe's freedom ain't free
Full paragraph:
I agree that is a provision in that part. However, none of the following passages come close to the acceptance of welfare as it has become today. A clear argument can be made that enabling other people not to produce for themselves is counterproductive to the welfare of this nation.The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;
That passage talks about defence, not constantly getting into offensive wars all over the globe.
Welfare as we know it today comes in many ways, shapes and forms. At least when it comes to programs like Medicare or Social Security, there's a clear financing path with them (money is taken every month from the paychecks). Now I would agree that what's taken might not be enough to make the programs solvent, and that's something that will need to be addressed, but they're already ahead of the game of other types of government welfare: tax rebates, tax holidays, government subsidies, etc.
If it's so clear, I'm sure you could make it. Factually speaking, 92% of people work in the country. Could be better, but that's not that much different than 30 years ago.
Plus programs like Medicare and Social Security (and to an extent Medicaid) actually target people that are at a certain age where they either can't produce anymore or their production is greatly diminished. That's why I personally think they fall well within the 'well-being' portion.
That's a really good point but I just don't think welfare was in their minds when they were writing the cons ution.
I do agree that there is alot of bs in the defense that can go away, it just never does. Robert Gates tried for four years to cut defense in a more responsible way. He wanted to start at the top and cut out all Joints Chief's fluff, to start.
Apparently, at the very least, 'well being' was... as vague as it might be.
It's seemingly difficult to make cuts anywhere. I don't think anybody is arguing cuts should be exclusive to Defense spending. But if politicos ever get around to actually use the trimmer in any sensible way, defense shouldn't be off the table.
Whats funny is that I see our large military as enabling in its own way. We enable other countries by protecting them instead of making them pay for a larger military.
I agree with you, but wouldn't you rather it be us that is the "alpha country?"
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