The T
George S. Patton Party
Every once in a while, we hear about the military spending $500 on toilet seats (not some special kind needed for unusual plumbing on experimental craft, either) or $800.00 each for regular old screwdrivers bought in bulk. After a while, one necessarily comes to the conclusion that if there isn't outright theft and corruption in the procurement process, there is woefully inadequate oversight and accounting taking place.
Can wasteful spending in the military be cut? Obviously.
And then there are other options. Like MAYBE (and I realize it's a pipe dream for some reason) but POSSIBLY we could -- stay with me here -- say "ok. World War II is actually over. We're pulling our troops out of Japan and Germany."
Yeah yeah. It may not be a simple as it sounds. They still have some strategic value merely by being there. But if we are attempting to analyze costs and how to cut those costs, then maybe we need to seriously get down to the business of having that discussion.
Maybe we SHOULD be spending lots on R&D. But maybe we don't need as many fighter/bombers as we have.
Maybe we can deploy a Strategic Missile Defense (star wars type) system for the threat of some possible future nuclear missile attack, even if it's expensive as hell, but we can do without troop deployments in Eastern Buttfuckslovia.
Several of us have said it before: Let's agree to put everything on the table. There may be no ultimate agreement on major things, but there should be some ways to save lots of money even within the defense budget. No sacred cows: Everything should be at least subject to debate.
Didn't Obama and the Senate give that up to the Russians recently?