Those who call themselves ‘conservatives’ continue to seek cuts to programs beneficial to the majority of the American people. Led by Marco Rubio, they want to give more money to the defense department, although nearly 50 percent of it goes to waste. The perfect example is the F-35 aircraft.

The F-35 was supposed to be the greatest fighter ever developed. Different versions of the aircraft were to be delivered to each branch of the military. The F-35 would be the fastest, most maneuverable, most powerful military aircraft in the world with stealth capabilities. There was only one problem; it failed every expectation.

In a mock ‘dogfight’ it lost to an F-16. The costs of developing the fighter have multiplied, and the Pentagon refuses to reveal the final estimate. There is no timeline for mass production as it continues to fail nearly every test.

None of this phases the Pentagon; it has no ‘plan B.’ Cost estimates from watchdog sources are hundreds of billions of dollars, and some as high as a trillion.

This is of no concern to the Republican Party either. It fully supports the fact that the United States spends five-times more money than the combined nations of the world. And we continue to lose wars.

The government has agencies designed to have oversight regarding the military. Sadly, it appears that they ignore most of the defense department’s wasteful policies.

Congress recently passed a spending bill and President Obama signed it into law. The defense department will receive $576 billion of the 1.1 trillion-dollar budget for the next year.

Marco Rubio says that if he becomes president he will raise the military budget to one-trillion dollars; and he calls himself a conservative.

The Republican Party believes that planning for the next war is good business. If a member of the TEA Party or a Republican wins the White House in 2016, we will be involved in another war within six months. It matters little to them that the American people are opposed to continuous military action; they and their friends are heavily invested in the military industrial complex.

The GOP is in denial of the fact that we cannot win a war in the Middle East. Our continual involvement in the area only succeeds in escalating conflicts, while our military eventually counts its losses and retreats. Thousands of lives and billions of dollars lost is the result of rash judgement.

Republicans have used fear tactics to control voters for over 15 years. Terrorism is real, but to live in fear of something the average citizen cannot control is ignorant. This is the justification used to throw money away by giving it to incompetent military brass.

The American people are in great need. Tax money wasted on military expenditures could be used in far better ways.

Op-Ed

By James Turnage

Source

Photo Courtesy of David B. Gleason Follow

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