Afghan Escalation Would Make One-Year Pentagon Budget Almost As Big as Entire 10-Year Health Bill »
Posted By jovial 1 week ago in Political OpinionArticle: There's no attempt to put the costs into any context - specifically, there's no mention that an escalation in Afghanistan would mean outlays for the one-year Pentagon budget is approaching the total outlays of the entire 10-year health care bill.
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jovial
Grew up In Brooklyn. Joined the Navy in 1976 stayed in 10 years. Aircraft Electronics tech. Worked for Major Govt. contractor then settled in California ...
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hyperbola1 week ago
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Well, there you have it. In essence America has become a country run by the military. It is no accident that the "public propaganda" part of the Pentagon exceeds the "public communications" infrastructure of all of the rest of the government put together. Nor is it any accident that the Pentagon serially lies to Americans - about everything from its real budget to its peformance.
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America Owned by Its Army
http://www.propeller.com/story/2009/11/08/america-...
It is possible that the creation of an all-professional American army was the most dangerous decision ever taken by Congress. The nation now confronts a political crisis in which the issue has become an undeclared contest between Pentagon power and that of a newly elected president.
Barack Obama has yet to declare his decision on the war in Afghanistan, and there is every reason to think that he will follow military opinion. Yet he is under immense pressure from his Republican opponents to, in effect, renounce his presidential power, and step aside from the fundamental strategic decisions of the nation. ....
....The Vietnam war was opposed by the public by the 1970s, when according to the Pentagon Papers, the government itself knew that victory was unlikely. Today the public doubts victory in the war in Afghanistan. However the version of Vietnam history most Americans (who were not there!) read today says there really was no defeat at all.
It is argued that there was only a collapse of civilian support for the war, caused by the liberal press, producing popular disaffection both at home and inside the conscript army, with a breakdown of military discipline, “fraggings” (murders) of aggressive combat leaders, and demoralization in the ranks. This is the version most military officers believe today.
It is an American version of the “stab in the back” myth believed in German military and right-wing political circles after the first world war. ....
...After Vietnam, Congress ended conscription (which in that war had become heavily corrupt: the poor and working classes were drafted, while many of the privileged had influential families and found complacent doctors or college deans willing to hand over unjustified draft exemptions to those -- like the future Vice President Richard Cheney -- who had “other priorities” than patriotism and national service.-
hyperbolaComment removed: Spam
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hyperbolaComment removed: Spam
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TOD3961 week ago
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FTA: And the overall military budget could rise to as much as $734 billion, or 10 percent more than the peak of $667 billion under the Bush administration.
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I am thankful that we have a president who listened to the people, and carried out thier wishes. Good Grief, is this for real? obie is going to tack on even more costs in the wrong war at the wrong time? What was he thinking? Why, I could understand Bush doing this, but obie? There must be a gun to his head somewhere. Maybe the pentagon has pictures of him. It can't be above board. There has to be an evil force at work pressuring obie to go against the will of all who voted for him. Why, oh why, can't he just do as he promised, and end the wars, and bring the troops home?
Well, I have to ask, How's that hope and change workin for ya?-
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berkeley6 days, 22 hours ago
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obama can speak in complete sentences.
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beyond that, the afghan war is expanding into pakistan, iraq is still chaotic, the war on some drugs is still on, state secrecy is still being used to conceal crimes in several court cases, israel still does what it wishes, and the banks can have whatever they want.
it's difficult to find the change.
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jordan116 days, 20 hours ago
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Some people simply do not have the compacity to view things in perspective. Where were the screams, and stupid tea parties when it was OBVIOUS we were fooled into this dumb ass 'war' in Iraq, and spending more than a TRILLION on it? No where. That's where the dissent was. But try to help Americans stay alive by giving em health care, and the fools are up in arms.
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CHAM6 days, 13 hours ago
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A much need Post Jovial.
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The promise of change turned into a reality of more of the same. And I keep saying that the most dangerous threat to our way of life is Party Loyalty.
Party Loyalty is why our great Nation has been slowly sinking into the abyss of shame. We are no longer a moral people.
That one Party would clamor for spending more money to kill than spending more money to heal says all that is needed to prove the fact.
The Republicans who seriously harmed this country under Bush are striving mightily to place the blame for that tragedy on the Democrats.
And the Republican faithful froth at the mouth about the excesses of Obama while patting themselves on their own back for the expenditure of their hero Bush who doubled the accumulated long term debt of America during his eight years.
Just think over 200 years of accumulated debt ($20 Trillion) increased to over $60 Trillion in eight years under Bush and that bunch now wants to be frugal and spend less on healing than killing.
Party Loyalty has no shame.
Obviously we aren't too concerned of our depravity or we would get rid of the two major parties by turning to a new political reality. We do have that choice - except its hard to do something different when Party gets in the way.
"If you always do, what you always did, you always get, what you always got". -
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lloydm656 days, 11 hours ago
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I totally agree the war is draining our resources,the illegals are draining our resources.The solution is to bring most of our troops home increase the drones,armed with daisy cutter bombs,and lots of napalm.Then gather up the illegals,using our federal troops, take them home,put military out post up and down both borders,and simplest of all enforce the immigrations laws.Why do so many immigrants believe our laws are a big stinking joke?
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EKB_6 days, 9 hours ago
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You seem pretty racist to me lloyd. You realize that our country was founded by immigrants and was intended to have an open door policy regarding immigrants. A better solution would be to make most of them citizens and pay them at least minium wage and make them pay taxes.
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EKB_6 days, 9 hours ago
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Or maybe lloyd we could just round up the illegals and ship them to afganistan and pay them 2 dollars an hour to fight the taliban. Then if they live they will be allowed to go back to mexico. I bet that would stop the mexicans from invading our country. Whataya think?
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lloydm655 days, 10 hours ago
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AMAZED,it boggles my mind when illegals are protected by the left in this country.I believe it's a backlash against middle class folks who for some strange reason believe in the law.I heard just a few wks ago if an illegal is caught with stolen identity it is not a crime unless they knew who they were stealing it from
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EKB_6 days, 9 hours ago
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I really think one of these polling companies should take a poll that asks that if the cost were equal, which you prefer a)health care reform or b) Sending our troops to fight in Afganistan.
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Then they should ask for your party affiliation.
It would be interesting to see what the numbers would be. -
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