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Post by Bob Forsythe on Feb 24, 2011 14:39:16 GMT -8
The AmeriCorps team that has been working at our restoration site for the past two months left today. Personally I think it's a mistake by the Republicans to kill the program - assuming they manage to do so. It's anecdotal since there were only 9 kids on the team, but I found them to be intelligent, very self-assured for their age and willing to bust their butts non-stop. They do it for very little pay or other rewards except something they can put on their resume and I never saw them as anything but cheerful (they do get some assistance with college).
But mostly, these kids believe in national service and I think that's always a good thing. The 2010 budget was just a bit over a billion bucks which ain't much considering all these kids do, from assisting in natural disasters to tutoring poor kids (our team next heads to Big Bear to teach 6th grade science classes outdoors).
But the Republicans have proposed killing it and they well succeed because no politician on either side is willing to screw with the holy trinity of social security/medicare/defense. Damn shame.
=Bob
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Post by davdesid on Feb 24, 2011 16:59:15 GMT -8
>>>no politician on either side is willing to screw with the holy trinity of social security/medicare/defense. Damn shame.<<<<the =Perfesser Everyone has some skin in the game. tinyurl.com/6dmppva |
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Post by Bob Forsythe on Feb 25, 2011 17:30:20 GMT -8
>>>no politician on either side is willing to screw with the holy trinity of social security/medicare/defense. Damn shame.<<<<the =Perfesser Everyone has some skin in the game. tinyurl.com/6dmppvaAnd that offers what? Do you have a problem with cutting the defense budget? If so, offer an argument instead of a link. Tell ya what - I'll offer the same argument I've offered several times in the past and you get the chance to tell me why I'm wrong: We should shut down every base in Europe with the possible exception of Ramstein - we need the medical resources there. No other bases in Germany, England, Italy or anywhere else in Europe. Troops in Korea but close every other base in Asia. Keep Diego Garcia but get out of the Middle East altogether. Get out of Okinawa as well. Hey, I'm simply agreeing with Ron Paul on this and surely you can agree with him - well, maybe not since you are enjoying the greatest welfare system this country has ever known given the military retirement system. But holy crap; God forbid the defense budget should ever get cut or someone should be "deprived" of the opportunity to retire before they reach age 40 while they vilify others for being able to retire 15 years beyond that age. Simple fact - until this country comes to terms with the bull$#!+ of people retiring in their late 30s to early 40s and living off the government dole for 40 or 50 years simply because they spent 20 years floating on boats we will never resolve our problems. Our defense budget is obscene and it's quite sad that you don't understand that while you bitch about minor spending items. =Bob |
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Post by aztecwin on Feb 26, 2011 14:06:38 GMT -8
>>>no politician on either side is willing to screw with the holy trinity of social security/medicare/defense. Damn shame.<<<<the =Perfesser Everyone has some skin in the game. tinyurl.com/6dmppvaAnd that offers what? Do you have a problem with cutting the defense budget? If so, offer an argument instead of a link. Tell ya what - I'll offer the same argument I've offered several times in the past and you get the chance to tell me why I'm wrong: We should shut down every base in Europe with the possible exception of Ramstein - we need the medical resources there. No other bases in Germany, England, Italy or anywhere else in Europe. Troops in Korea but close every other base in Asia. Keep Diego Garcia but get out of the Middle East altogether. Get out of Okinawa as well. Hey, I'm simply agreeing with Ron Paul on this and surely you can agree with him - well, maybe not since you are enjoying the greatest welfare system this country has ever known given the military retirement system. But holy crap; God forbid the defense budget should ever get cut or someone should be "deprived" of the opportunity to retire before they reach age 40 while they vilify others for being able to retire 15 years beyond that age. Simple fact - until this country comes to terms with the bull$#!+ of people retiring in their late 30s to early 40s and living off the government dole for 40 or 50 years simply because they spent 20 years floating on boats we will never resolve our problems. Our defense budget is obscene and it's quite sad that you don't understand that while you bitch about minor spending items. =Bob You might be a good person to be on some sort of committee that would study and recommend cuts and ferret out waste in Defense. You might have to study a little and find out who pays for what in our overseas bases, but still your willingness to point out that there is lots of waste in Defense would be helpful in saving taxpayers money. I would welcome a similar task in Education, Commerce, and Transportation. We might be able to get all but vital spending in check. We might even find some value in shutting down the UN. You will see some sort of change in Social Security before long. It just can't keep going for much longer. Medicare is fraught with fraud and waste and ObamaKare will make it worse. I think we could save a lot by Looking very closely at local issues as well. The State, City and County budgets could be made more efficient and more cost effective by redoing the fringe packages that those organizations offer. Get completely rid of unions for government and cutting workforces in most departments would be a place to start. Make all retirement plans funded from current revenue with a much larger employee contribution. In the mean time, keep your quarterly tax payments coming ( if you pay taxes) since I enjoy your part in funding my golf and margarita days. Don't turn green with envy now, you could have done the same.  |
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Post by davdesid on Feb 26, 2011 15:12:26 GMT -8
>>>no politician on either side is willing to screw with the holy trinity of social security/medicare/defense. Damn shame.<<<<the =Perfesser Everyone has some skin in the game. tinyurl.com/6dmppvaAnd that offers what? Do you have a problem with cutting the defense budget? If so, offer an argument instead of a link. Tell ya what - I'll offer the same argument I've offered several times in the past and you get the chance to tell me why I'm wrong: We should shut down every base in Europe with the possible exception of Ramstein - we need the medical resources there. No other bases in Germany, England, Italy or anywhere else in Europe. Troops in Korea but close every other base in Asia. Keep Diego Garcia but get out of the Middle East altogether. Get out of Okinawa as well. Hey, I'm simply agreeing with Ron Paul on this and surely you can agree with him - well, maybe not since you are enjoying the greatest welfare system this country has ever known given the military retirement system. But holy crap; God forbid the defense budget should ever get cut or someone should be "deprived" of the opportunity to retire before they reach age 40 while they vilify others for being able to retire 15 years beyond that age. Simple fact - until this country comes to terms with the bull$#!+ of people retiring in their late 30s to early 40s and living off the government dole for 40 or 50 years simply because they spent 20 years floating on boats we will never resolve our problems. Our defense budget is obscene and it's quite sad that you don't understand that while you bitch about minor spending items. =Bob You really are a sick puppy. You obviously didn't read the link, and just decided to go on a rant. Of course there are reductions that can be made in the defense budget. Some big ones, too. Everyone has some skin in the game. |
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Post by Bob Forsythe on Mar 8, 2011 16:52:30 GMT -8
And that offers what? Do you have a problem with cutting the defense budget? If so, offer an argument instead of a link. Tell ya what - I'll offer the same argument I've offered several times in the past and you get the chance to tell me why I'm wrong: We should shut down every base in Europe with the possible exception of Ramstein - we need the medical resources there. No other bases in Germany, England, Italy or anywhere else in Europe. Troops in Korea but close every other base in Asia. Keep Diego Garcia but get out of the Middle East altogether. Get out of Okinawa as well. Hey, I'm simply agreeing with Ron Paul on this and surely you can agree with him - well, maybe not since you are enjoying the greatest welfare system this country has ever known given the military retirement system. But holy crap; God forbid the defense budget should ever get cut or someone should be "deprived" of the opportunity to retire before they reach age 40 while they vilify others for being able to retire 15 years beyond that age. Simple fact - until this country comes to terms with the bull$#!+ of people retiring in their late 30s to early 40s and living off the government dole for 40 or 50 years simply because they spent 20 years floating on boats we will never resolve our problems. Our defense budget is obscene and it's quite sad that you don't understand that while you bitch about minor spending items. =Bob You really are a sick puppy. You obviously didn't read the link, and just decided to go on a rant. Of course there are reductions that can be made in the defense budget. Some big ones, too. Everyone has some skin in the game. You are correct that I did not read the link and correct on calling me out on my troll. But let's face a simple fact that Ron Paul spoke about today on MSNBC - why are we still in Germany? Why are we still in Japan? And on my own, why in the Hell do we need 14 carrier battle groups and why do we continue to spend 3/4 of a trillion bucks on the military/industrial complex? Most of our industry other than weapons have moved off-shore and we are not doing enough to encourage new technology - and I do blame Obama for that along with the Republicans and Clinton who came before him. Paul is quite correct in what he stated today - he's not against defense, he's against militarism and Congress needs to seriously look at big cuts in our defense budget far beyond killing the F-22 program. It's totally ridiculous that the Nav/Marines and the Air Force claim they need need unique platforms to meet their specific missions. But as you wrote, everyone has a skin in the game and with that I agree. =Bob |
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Post by davdesid on Mar 9, 2011 14:08:54 GMT -8
You really are a sick puppy. You obviously didn't read the link, and just decided to go on a rant. Of course there are reductions that can be made in the defense budget. Some big ones, too. Everyone has some skin in the game. You are correct that I did not read the link and correct on calling me out on my troll. But let's face a simple fact that Ron Paul spoke about today on MSNBC - why are we still in Germany? Why are we still in Japan? And on my own, why in the Hell do we need 14 carrier battle groups and why do we continue to spend 3/4 of a trillion bucks on the military/industrial complex? Most of our industry other than weapons have moved off-shore and we are not doing enough to encourage new technology - and I do blame Obama for that along with the Republicans and Clinton who came before him. Paul is quite correct in what he stated today - he's not against defense, he's against militarism and Congress needs to seriously look at big cuts in our defense budget far beyond killing the F-22 program. It's totally ridiculous that the Nav/Marines and the Air Force claim they need need unique platforms to meet their specific missions. But as you wrote, everyone has a skin in the game and with that I agree. =Bob I don't know why we still have 90K troops in Europe, it ain't like the Russians are going to come storming through the Fulda Gap these days. Europe should stand on it's own. Or, if there is some reason I'm not privy to, I don't know why the Europeans aren't picking up the tab. I wonder why this President puts up with it. There aren't 14 Carrier Battle Groups. There are only 10 active CV/CVNs that I'm aware of. |
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Post by Bob Forsythe on Mar 11, 2011 17:38:42 GMT -8
You are correct that I did not read the link and correct on calling me out on my troll. But let's face a simple fact that Ron Paul spoke about today on MSNBC - why are we still in Germany? Why are we still in Japan? And on my own, why in the Hell do we need 14 carrier battle groups and why do we continue to spend 3/4 of a trillion bucks on the military/industrial complex? Most of our industry other than weapons have moved off-shore and we are not doing enough to encourage new technology - and I do blame Obama for that along with the Republicans and Clinton who came before him. Paul is quite correct in what he stated today - he's not against defense, he's against militarism and Congress needs to seriously look at big cuts in our defense budget far beyond killing the F-22 program. It's totally ridiculous that the Nav/Marines and the Air Force claim they need need unique platforms to meet their specific missions. But as you wrote, everyone has a skin in the game and with that I agree. =Bob I don't know why we still have 90K troops in Europe, it ain't like the Russians are going to come storming through the Fulda Gap these days. Europe should stand on it's own. Or, if there is some reason I'm not privy to, I don't know why the Europeans aren't picking up the tab. I wonder why this President puts up with it. There aren't 14 Carrier Battle Groups. There are only 10 active CV/CVNs that I'm aware of. Okay, given that you may correct, please tell us why we "only need" 10 carrier battle groups? As to why Obama "puts up with it", try asking the right-wing about it. I mean really, the "coming storm?" How stupid are you? =Bob |
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Post by davdesid on Mar 11, 2011 17:58:26 GMT -8
I don't know why we still have 90K troops in Europe, it ain't like the Russians are going to come storming through the Fulda Gap these days. Europe should stand on it's own. Or, if there is some reason I'm not privy to, I don't know why the Europeans aren't picking up the tab. I wonder why this President puts up with it. There aren't 14 Carrier Battle Groups. There are only 10 active CV/CVNs that I'm aware of. Okay, given that you may correct, please tell us why we "only need" 10 carrier battle groups? As to why Obama "puts up with it", try asking the right-wing about it. I mean really, the "coming storm?" How stupid are you? =Bob What in the billy hell are you talking about? We have 10 active CV/CVNs. Not 14. That's just a fact, whether you like it or not, and if you don't, bitch to the President you voted for, not me. As for the "coming storm" remark, I can only conclude that you are deep in your cups and are getting a bit tumescent, and anticipating some kind of "storming come".... because it does not relate in any way to anything I have posted. Sober up. |
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Post by aztecwin on Mar 21, 2011 9:00:12 GMT -8
I don't know why we still have 90K troops in Europe, it ain't like the Russians are going to come storming through the Fulda Gap these days. Europe should stand on it's own. Or, if there is some reason I'm not privy to, I don't know why the Europeans aren't picking up the tab. I wonder why this President puts up with it. There aren't 14 Carrier Battle Groups. There are only 10 active CV/CVNs that I'm aware of. Okay, given that you may correct, please tell us why we "only need" 10 carrier battle groups? As to why Obama "puts up with it", try asking the right-wing about it. I mean really, the "coming storm?" How stupid are you? =Bob I think you should read the thread a little more carefully before asking how stupid anyone is. You owe him an apology when you sober up. |
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Post by Bob Forsythe on Mar 22, 2011 15:51:08 GMT -8
Okay, given that you may correct, please tell us why we "only need" 10 carrier battle groups? As to why Obama "puts up with it", try asking the right-wing about it. I mean really, the "coming storm?" How stupid are you? =Bob I think you should read the thread a little more carefully before asking how stupid anyone is. You owe him an apology when you sober up. Pooh, the reason you rarely see me on these political forums is because I know how predictable your trolls will be. I mean really, I know you're older than granny's tits and twice as wrinkled, but surely you're not so besotted from the 19th hole rounds you are incapable of coming up with new, creative, trolls. It's really quite sad that you continue to offer the same troll over and over. I really hope these repetitive trolls of yours don't reflect your aging process and your mental state. =Bob |
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Post by aztecwin on Mar 22, 2011 16:35:42 GMT -8
I think you should read the thread a little more carefully before asking how stupid anyone is. You owe him an apology when you sober up. Pooh, the reason you rarely see me on these political forums is because I know how predictable your trolls will be. I mean really, I know you're older than granny's tits and twice as wrinkled, but surely you're not so besotted from the 19th hole rounds you are incapable of coming up with new, creative, trolls. It's really quite sad that you continue to offer the same troll over and over. I really hope these repetitive trolls of yours don't reflect your aging process and your mental state. =Bob Now you owe two of us! Realy, Bob, think about getting some help. |
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Post by Bob Forsythe on Mar 22, 2011 17:37:17 GMT -8
Pooh, the reason you rarely see me on these political forums is because I know how predictable your trolls will be. I mean really, I know you're older than granny's tits and twice as wrinkled, but surely you're not so besotted from the 19th hole rounds you are incapable of coming up with new, creative, trolls. It's really quite sad that you continue to offer the same troll over and over. I really hope these repetitive trolls of yours don't reflect your aging process and your mental state. =Bob Now you owe two of us! Realy, Bob, think about getting some help. YAWN. It must be sad to watch your ability to be creative go away. =Bob |
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Post by aztecwin on Mar 23, 2011 13:06:14 GMT -8
Now you owe two of us! Realy, Bob, think about getting some help. YAWN. It must be sad to watch your ability to be creative go away. =Bob It is not about creativity, it is an intervention for your benefit. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2011 8:03:20 GMT -8
There are 957 mIlitary bases around the world 6000 in the USA. Our Navy is bigger than the next 13 navies combined and 11 of them are allies. Close 95% of them. Reduce the navy.
End corporate welfafe giant farms subsidies,corn into fuel ugh.
Flat tax everybody PAYS.
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Post by aztecwin on Apr 3, 2011 9:31:10 GMT -8
There are 957 mIlitary bases around the world 6000 in the USA. Our Navy is bigger than the next 13 navies combined and 11 of them are allies. Close 95% of them. Reduce the navy. End corporate welfafe giant farms subsidies,corn into fuel ugh. Flat tax everybody PAYS. There is a lot of fat that could be cut from our Navy and the other forces. We have many bases that could go as well. I would go there right after cutting the entire Dept of Education and Dept of Energy. The rest of your post has merit as well. Our tax code is a nightmare. |
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Post by Bob Forsythe on Apr 5, 2011 19:19:10 GMT -8
There are 957 mIlitary bases around the world 6000 in the USA. Our Navy is bigger than the next 13 navies combined and 11 of them are allies. Close 95% of them. Reduce the navy. End corporate welfafe giant farms subsidies,corn into fuel ugh. Flat tax everybody PAYS. There is a lot of fat that could be cut from our Navy and the other forces. We have many bases that could go as well. I would go there right after cutting the entire Dept of Education and Dept of Energy. The rest of your post has merit as well. Our tax code is a nightmare. Nope. Cut the living $#!+ out of our defense budget and tell the defense contractors that we'll put them out of business if they engage in any cost over-runs. Then we pass a law that anyone in the military has to wait 5 years before they can work for any defense contractor. If we want to do this correctly we need to close down pretty much all our bases in Europe, get the Hell out of Iraq and Afghanistan and end this American empire bullshiite. Your comments on the departments of Education and energy are crap; we need to cut the defense budget by half and we need to modify the policies that allowed you to retire at age 38. Do we need to support you at age 38, with full medical benefits and subsidized shopping at the PX? Don't think so. It's always the same with vets - you did your 20 and then expect the taxpayers will always be willing to float your boat no matter what you did or if you ever saw combat. I have no problem at all with paying Stu's retirement. Please tell me why the bucks from my taxes should pay for yours. Ain't like you were ever in combat; ain't like you ever did anything other than work in a job that most of us worked in while not getting retirement in our 50s; something that you would bitch about up one side and down the other while you collect your checks that are paid for by by the taxpayers. Ah yes, the American military - greatest welfare system this world has ever seen. =Bob |
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Post by AztecWilliam on Apr 5, 2011 20:36:25 GMT -8
No doubt there are plenty of areas, even in defense, where cuts can be made. I agree that we should tell Europe and Japan to pay for their own defense. One reason why we don't do that may be the fear that those countries will just throw up their hands and do nothing. Tough luck for them, you say? Perhaps, but we are not totally unaffected by events around the world. An essentially defenseless Europe might not be in our best interest. Sure, the new isolationists would say "So What?" They may be correct to a point. I just don't know where that point lies.
Personally, I support a strong navy. Even with a very cautious foreign policy, which means going to war only rarely (and not to get rid of tin-horn dictators who rule over countries that are basically lots of sand with a paved road running along the seacoast), we should still have the capability to take care of business. That means having forces sufficient to make unfriendly nations think very hard before screwing with our national interests. It's always better to convince adversaries to back off rather than to let them get the impression that they can do what they want without worrying whether we might slap them down. (Let me cite an example. We would not have had to fight the Persian Gulf War had Saddam Hussein sincerely believed that his army was going to get torched if he went into Kuwait. He would have been even more reluctant to start another adventure had he believed that doing so would ultimately cause him to end up at the end of a rope.)
As for AmeriCorps, I say this; such groups are really bad ideas, even if their creators had the best of intentions. I saw a TV report (60 Minutes?) a few years ago that made an important point about the Peace Corps. Basically, the criticism was that the Peace Corps was great for young Americans who like to feel good about helping poor nations, but that the money spent on sending these neophytes abroad could have been better spent on helping local doctors, teachers, etc. Only if you think Americans have this marvelous ability to help the unwashed masses in other lands would you think that the Peace Corps is the best way to help the Third World.
AzWm
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Post by aztecwin on Apr 6, 2011 13:41:06 GMT -8
There is a lot of fat that could be cut from our Navy and the other forces. We have many bases that could go as well. I would go there right after cutting the entire Dept of Education and Dept of Energy. The rest of your post has merit as well. Our tax code is a nightmare. Nope. Cut the living $#!+ out of our defense budget and tell the defense contractors that we'll put them out of business if they engage in any cost over-runs. Then we pass a law that anyone in the military has to wait 5 years before they can work for any defense contractor. If we want to do this correctly we need to close down pretty much all our bases in Europe, get the Hell out of Iraq and Afghanistan and end this American empire bullshiite. Your comments on the departments of Education and energy are crap; we need to cut the defense budget by half and we need to modify the policies that allowed you to retire at age 38. Do we need to support you at age 38, with full medical benefits and subsidized shopping at the PX? Don't think so. It's always the same with vets - you did your 20 and then expect the taxpayers will always be willing to float your boat no matter what you did or if you ever saw combat. I have no problem at all with paying Stu's retirement. Please tell me why the bucks from my taxes should pay for yours. Ain't like you were ever in combat; ain't like you ever did anything other than work in a job that most of us worked in while not getting retirement in our 50s; something that you would bitch about up one side and down the other while you collect your checks that are paid for by by the taxpayers. Ah yes, the American military - greatest welfare system this world has ever seen. =Bob The Ranting Runt fires for effect! |
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Post by aztecwin on Apr 6, 2011 13:44:25 GMT -8
No doubt there are plenty of areas, even in defense, where cuts can be made. I agree that we should tell Europe and Japan to pay for their own defense. One reason why we don't do that may be the fear that those countries will just throw up their hands and do nothing. Tough luck for them, you say? Perhaps, but we are not totally unaffected by events around the world. An essentially defenseless Europe might not be in our best interest. Sure, the new isolationists would say " So What?" They may be correct to a point. I just don't know where that point lies. Personally, I support a strong navy. Even with a very cautious foreign policy, which means going to war only rarely (and not to get rid of tin-horn dictators who rule over countries that are basically lots of sand with a paved road running along the seacoast), we should still have the capability to take care of business. That means having forces sufficient to make unfriendly nations think very hard before screwing with our national interests. It's always better to convince adversaries to back off rather than to let them get the impression that they can do what they want without worrying whether we might slap them down. (Let me cite an example. We would not have had to fight the Persian Gulf War had Saddam Hussein sincerely believed that his army was going to get torched if he went into Kuwait. He would have been even more reluctant to start another adventure had he believed that doing so would ultimately cause him to end up at the end of a rope.) As for AmeriCorps, I say this; such groups are really bad ideas, even if their creators had the best of intentions. I saw a TV report (60 Minutes?) a few years ago that made an important point about the Peace Corps. Basically, the criticism was that the Peace Corps was great for young Americans who felt good about helping poor nations, but that the money spent on sending these neophytes abroad could have been better spent on helping local doctors, teachers, etc. Only if you think Americans have this marvelous ability to help the unwashed masses in other lands would you think that the Peace Corps is the best way to help the Third World. AzWm Before we get to deep into this base cutting overseas, we should know who is paying for what at those locations. Just what is in our Status of Forces Agreements? You might be surprised. There are lots of cuts that can be made and should be, but we need to know more about the source of funds as well as the application. |
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