Posted on 11/30/2012 3:11:25 PM PST by DontTreadFred
Do you believe that conservatism requires spending more on defense? I am surprised that so many of my fellow conservatives believe that defense spending cuts are at odds with conservatism.
I definitely think we need a strong defense: that is a conservative principle. But, we should definitely evaluate what level of spending is necessary to make a strong defense. We owe it to the men and women fighting our war in Afghanistan to give them the tools they need to fight, but I can't imagine that there is no waste in the defense budget. We owe our soldiers a duty to cut the waste.
spending millions to reinvent beef jerky and other things can be cut from the military budget without worry... but we all know its not the pork that will be cut
I served in the military. There is a lot of waste. We don’t need so many bases in countries where we fought decades ago.
There are some Army bases in Germany closing.
There are some Army bases in Germany closing.
There are some Army bases in Germany closing.
In the past year, the administration also forced the military to spend big bucks on Chevy Volts.
Want to save big money in our Armed Forces? Boot the faggots.
Oh, and welcome noobie.
With Our lord and savior Obama as CinC, what do we even need a military for? His honeyed speeches and miraculous gifts should be enough to turn any enemy into a BFF.
There’s no danger of us being invaded by a communist army now, but we have a communist in the White House.
We’ve been protected Middle East oil to keep our prices from going through the roof, yet we’re printing money like crazy which is doing it any how.
We have an open border where we allow millions of foreigners to enter our country to influence our leadership and take the citizens’ dollars.
Not as dramatic as 9-11, but many more Americans are going to die with the huge decrease quality in the healthcare industry.
It’s sad, but protecting American interests abroad doesn’t seem to make much sense to me these days.
An ever growing part of the budget is devoted to supporting females, children, families, and all the other fluff that will eventually require turning soldiering into just another government job, perhaps even union in time, if the government continues to unionize against us.
There is of course the eternal military waste which is usually worst, the more political the branch, like the Air Force.
I don’t think it’s so much that conservatives desire extremely high levels of defense spending, as it is that we would rather see other, less vital things, cut first.
Agree 100 percent.
The military has been turned into just another queer bait bureacracy commanded by a bunch of BTO butt boys.
The military sequester is the one bright spot in “going over the cliff”.
Just my observation from spending 27 years in the USAR and also my Active Duty son’s observation
Does providing for the common defense involve nation building in a feudal Muslim nation that wants us all dead?
The way to deal with pirates and terrorists is how we did it 200 years ago.
We hunt down the pirates/terrorists and kill them.
We inform the nation giving the pirates/terrorists support and protection that we will hurt them badly if they continure to support said pirates/terrorists.
We bomb the shit out of said nations.
They kill the pirates/terrorists.
THAT is how it should be done.
And in the end, we burn the poppy fields. Some things should NEVER be tolerated.
I don’t know. There are always so many other insane, ridiculous budgetary items that one could prioritize. But I’ve become a bit less concerned about defense cuts, as the country’s more immediate dangers have increasingly become more inward (marxist takeover; economic, cultural and moral decay). Added to this, since Obama has faggotized the military into a social-engineering farce, I have far less interest, confidence or trust it. So cut away. Just keep the nukes primed and ready.
Well, Fred, what are the Unintended Consequences? It’s easy to sit back and chuck stones at the military, but have you really thought out the consequences? If you cut one Soldier, what is the consequence? He’ll find a great job working for GM? He’ll go to school? Who pays for his schooling? Even if he gets a good job, that’s a job someone else didn’t get. How does that affect unemployment? Oh, and what if he goes on unemployment? Who’s going to pay for that? And would you rather have a young man with discipline in the military, or standing on the street corner mad at the world? Nope, Fred, cutting Soldiers don’t look good to me.
The world of push and shove, intelligence and muscle flexing, searching for weakness and snatching advantage and markets, shipping lanes, and even territory, never sleeps.
Perceived military strength shapes markets and treaties, trade agreements, and alliances, and loyalties.
Just as in business, there isn’t a point where you capture the sweet spot and can relax, and depend on maintaining the status quo, because the rest of the world of business, and unknown players who not have even entered business yet, and market forces unknown, will undercut you before you can react, perhaps fatally.
China seems to think that investing a fortune in a global military will pay off for them, for some reason. They clearly see a future, or see creating a future, that requires that long term and costly investment.
No, they do not have to fight defense cuts. The only thing they need to do - and I mean the ONLY thing - is to refuse to raise the debt ceiling. Do that, and not only will Obama’s bluff be called, but the nation will be saved as well.
Well, Fred, there must surely be some money to be made from cutting research and development? What are the Unintended Consequences for that? Well, done earlier, you wouldn’t be on the Internet because the military, contrary to Al Gore’s lies, developed the Internet. Maybe you could call me on your cell phone that was developed by and for the military. Do you get lost in big cities? Not any more thanks to that Global Positioning System you can use that was developed for and by the military. I could go on all day....new medical procedures......new ways to build things.....new ways to help in disasters. Now, let’s look at what we get for every dollar we invest in foodstamps or Medicaid or unemployment or social security disability or make-believe pig farms???????????????Not much research and development there, Fred. I’d say stick with funding military research and development.
OK. But you have to be able to save money by not buying so much military equipment. Oh, Fred, here we have those pesky Unintended Consequences again. How many tanks are we buying? None. How many trucks? Some, but what happens if the military stops buying those trucks. Why, those employees could go to work for GM in their Hummer division! Oh, that’s right, they’re gone. Well they could get some other good job. More likely it will be the same as cutting Soldiers? Fewer jobs for other people and more unemployment. How about planes and helicopters? Well, we really don’t buy many of those these days. And take a look at what our economy was like when we were buying lots of planes and helicopters. I think there’s a strong case to be made that we should be buying more military equipment to stimulate the economy. Maybe we could get by with fewer ships. I don’t know the exact numbers, but I’ll bet you we’re at half the number of ships we had 30 years ago. You see Fred, Bill Clinton already claimed that Peace Dividend. Our next dividend might make 9/11 look like a picnic. And again, has the number of people on unemployment or social security disability or foodstamps or make-believe pig farms gone up or down? How has that helped our nation? Nope. Buying American made military products looks pretty good to me.
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