The United States spins five-times more on defense than all other nations combined. We should have a military which could not be challenged; should have. Our most dangerous adversaries have nuclear weapons which trump whatever size and how many weapons we build.
The problem and the truth is that more than one-half of the Pentagon’s yearly budget goes to waste.
The most egregious case it the “ultimate fighter;” the F-35. The F-35 was intended to be easily adapted for all branches of the military. It was expected to be the fastest, most maneuverable aircraft ever manufactured with electronics which would make it extremely difficult to defeat. After years of delays and retrofitting, it remains doubtful that it will ever fly. It failed virtually every test. Hundreds of millions of dollars in cost overruns, and redesign have resulted in the most costly failure in military history.
Approximately 200 miles from my home there are hundreds of Bradley tanks gathering dust in warehouses; they will never see a battlefield.
Across the nation there are warehouses full of ammunition. Much of it is obsolete, and has no military use. The brass has a serious problem. For safety purposes this ordinance must be destroyed, but they don’t know how.
These are just a few examples of the failed use of taxpayer dollars; there are many, many more.
For Republicans, throwing money at the Pentagon, regardless of its failures, is perfectly acceptable, but providing universal health care, raising the federal minimum wage, protecting social security and Medicare in their present forms, is unacceptable. Rising poverty levels do not affect our politicians personal ambitions. Damn the American people; let’s plan for a war; war is good business.
The Pentagon buried a report in 2015. It contained a proposal which would have saved taxpayers $125 billion over five years. It was hidden from the public to ensure that they would continue to receive their bloated annual budget.
The report offered proposals which would not have cost any military or civilian jobs. The reports findings “would have streamlined the bureaucracy through attrition and early retirements, curtailed high-priced contractors and made better use of information technology.”
But the Pentagon brass feared that it might not receive its hundreds of millions of dollars to throw away on pet projects which would not and could not be used during a military conflict. Congress has just approved a $611 million budget for 2017. At least $300 million will result in waste.
If you love your country; you love the people of the United States. You probably have doubts about your government, especially after the election, and question military leadership.
It’s time that we joined the rest of the developed world both in our attitudes towards each other, and in the way our tax dollars are used. It’s time that social programs become more important than the one-percent and their profits, and the military who have no need for one-half of their budget.
Congress will never take appropriate action to care for those who elected them. We must take back our corrupt government, and restore democracy. I refuse to live under fascist rule which has created a plutocracy.
By the way, more than $93 million is wasted each year on a “do-nothing congress” salary. This does not include millions of dollars in the best benefits taxpayer dollars can buy.
If you want to be a part of the solution and recognized the problem; please re-post.
Op-Ed
By James Turnage
Follow me on twitter; @jamesturnage
The Truth With No Restrictions 