Pentagon Plans to Shrink Army to Pre-World War II Level

[rightwinger]

one in the same genus

"Genus?"

"One in the same class or group of any kind?"

So you are saying, using as obscure language as possible, that Protecting the Nation means Military Spending, which is obvious.

What is NOT obvious, is how MORE Military Spending Protects a Nation BETTER. On our planet there's something called diminishing returns. This means that when you double your expenditures year-over-year, you may only experience a marginal return for the investment. Eventually, the return becomes infintessimal, and the expenditure is worthless.

Developing, producing, and deploying, new technology costs money and it's well worth it Having the most advance military in the world is well worth the money spent.

Is it? Absent a threat

While we have a $17 trillion debt, crumbling infrastructure and working Americans crying for healthcare and affordable education?

 

[SmedlyButler]

This has been mentioned in this thread but a picture is sometimes worth a thousand words
they say.

Does the U.S. have to continually re-mortgage the country to remain the World's cop?

 

[Samson]

one in the same genus

"Genus?"

"One in the same class or group of any kind?"

So you are saying, using as obscure language as possible, that Protecting the Nation means Military Spending, which is obvious.

What is NOT obvious, is how MORE Military Spending Protects a Nation BETTER. On our planet there's something called diminishing returns. This means that when you double your expenditures year-over-year, you may only experience a marginal return for the investment. Eventually, the return becomes infintessimal, and the expenditure is worthless.

Developing, producing, and deploying, new technology costs money and it's well worth it Having the most advance military in the world is well worth the money spent.

Apparently, my attempt to explain diminishing returns has introduced a notion so alien to your world, it is impossible for you to grasp.



Happily, our democracy will not depend only upon this narrow, More is Better, POV.

 

[Jroc]

This has been mentioned in this thread but a picture is sometimes worth a thousand words
they say.

Does the U.S. have to continually re-mortgage the country to remain the World's cop?

Bullshit China and Russia don't report accurately what they spend. and I've already said Europe and Japan need to step it up we cant pay for their defense.

 

[rightwinger]

This has been mentioned in this thread but a picture is sometimes worth a thousand words
they say.

Does the U.S. have to continually re-mortgage the country to remain the World's cop?

Also...eight out of the ten are trusted allies

Where is our threat?

 

[eagle1462010]

It is amazing how the Liberals go bat shit crazy over cuts to the military. You only hear them talking about spending cuts and the debt when we talk about these types of cuts.

Quite frankly I wonder if they get that tingling sensation in their legs when this happens...........

Riddle me this.............Which President recently caused cuts to the Commissaries used by the military in the U.S.................They are now closed on Sundays thanks to the Sequester deal that was the brain child of this President. He spends his butt off but can't think of anything else to cut but services to the troops themselves............

Which President also caused their co-pays to go up................

Which President wouldn't give the cost of living raises to the retirees.....................


I believe cuts are needed everywhere. Not just in the military. And the across the board buts just on the numbers is utter BS. There are plenty of other areas to cut instead of operational troops. While they have instigated a Freeze on hiring Civilian employees, why didn't they start there instead of actual troops....................

Recently the GAO released 200 Billion in wasteful spending..........Yet we have a Gov't that would rather shut down Commissaries on Sundays to save 1.4 BILLION a year, than look at this other wasteful spending instead.

Frankly, you Liberals Disgust me.

 

[Samson]

"Genus?"

"One in the same class or group of any kind?"

So you are saying, using as obscure language as possible, that Protecting the Nation means Military Spending, which is obvious.

What is NOT obvious, is how MORE Military Spending Protects a Nation BETTER. On our planet there's something called diminishing returns. This means that when you double your expenditures year-over-year, you may only experience a marginal return for the investment. Eventually, the return becomes infintessimal, and the expenditure is worthless.

Developing, producing, and deploying, new technology costs money and it's well worth it Having the most advance military in the world is well worth the money spent.

Is it? Absent a threat

While we have a $17 trillion debt, crumbling infrastructure and working Americans crying for healthcare and affordable education?

Let's imagine there was a threat. Germany and Japan. Global War.

Even with our primitive pre-WW II military, and tiny defense budget, we still were victorious.

 

[RandomVariable]

The #1 greatest threat to National Security/National Interests is our non-existant foreign policy.

 

[Jroc]

"Genus?"

"One in the same class or group of any kind?"

So you are saying, using as obscure language as possible, that Protecting the Nation means Military Spending, which is obvious.

What is NOT obvious, is how MORE Military Spending Protects a Nation BETTER. On our planet there's something called diminishing returns. This means that when you double your expenditures year-over-year, you may only experience a marginal return for the investment. Eventually, the return becomes infintessimal, and the expenditure is worthless.

Developing, producing, and deploying, new technology costs money and it's well worth it Having the most advance military in the world is well worth the money spent.

Apparently, my attempt to explain diminishing returns has introduced a notion so alien to your world, it is impossible for you to grasp.



Happily, our democracy will not depend only upon this narrow, More is Better, POV.

I'm sure there is lot of waste and duplication that can be cut. Other than that? You'll haft to be more specific on what is to be considered a diminishing return

 

[Moonglow]

It is amazing how the Liberals go bat shit crazy over cuts to the military. You only hear them talking about spending cuts and the debt when we talk about these types of cuts.

Quite frankly I wonder if they get that tingling sensation in their legs when this happens...........

Riddle me this.............Which President recently caused cuts to the Commissaries used by the military in the U.S.................They are now closed on Sundays thanks to the Sequester deal that was the brain child of this President. He spends his butt off but can't think of anything else to cut but services to the troops themselves............

Which President also caused their co-pays to go up................

Which President wouldn't give the cost of living raises to the retirees.....................


I believe cuts are needed everywhere. Not just in the military. And the across the board buts just on the numbers is utter BS. There are plenty of other areas to cut instead of operational troops. While they have instigated a Freeze on hiring Civilian employees, why didn't they start there instead of actual troops....................

Recently the GAO released 200 Billion in wasteful spending..........Yet we have a Gov't that would rather shut down Commissaries on Sundays to save 1.4 BILLION a year, than look at this other wasteful spending instead.

Frankly, you Liberals Disgust me.

start your own thread then....go out on the branch..

 

[Moonglow]

The military wants to cut personnel costs so they can afford the weapons development branch.

 

[SmedlyButler]

"Man is not free unless government is limited.Ronald Reagan"

Impossible to achieve I think with the "defense" spending you seem to favor.

And I think the Libertarians on this board will second this, the Founders were not much enamoured with a large standing Army.

 

[Procrustes Stretched]

...

starting with a military man Our Documents - President George Washington's Farewell Address (1796)

and another military man Eisenhower's Military-Industry Complex Warning, 50 Years Later : NPR


Bush and Rumsfeld (pre 911) In the George W. Bush administration, Donald Rumsfeld continued a policy that sought to exploit information technology to replace the human component in war. Had it not been for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the Army would have gone down to fewer than eight divisions.

Dick Cheney - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

from 2012 Doyle McManus: The brass agrees with Obama's call to shrink the military - Los Angeles Times

President Obama has called a halt to the decade-long rise in defense spending that began after Sept. 11, and has proposed shrinking the Army and Marine Corps by about 14%.

Congressional Republicans (not to mention Mitt Romney) say that would be disastrous and that it could jeopardize American troops abroad.

But the military brass has stood behind Obama — literally. When the president announced his proposals, the Joint Chiefs of Staff lined up behind him in the Pentagon's briefing room. There has been no audible dissent from the officer corps.

 

[Samson]

It is amazing how the Liberals go bat shit crazy over cuts to the military. You only hear them talking about spending cuts and the debt when we talk about these types of cuts.
......
Frankly, you Liberals Disgust me.

Liberals like Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby?

Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, said Monday that Hagel consulted closely with the military service chiefs on how to balance defense and budget-saving requirements. "He has worked hard with the services to ensure that we continue to stand for the defense of our national interests -- that whatever budget priorities we establish, we do so in keeping with our defense strategy and with a strong commitment to the men and women in uniform and to their families, Kirby said.​

Liberals like the Joint Chiefs of Staff?

Officials told the Times that Hagel's plan has been endorsed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff.​

 

[JakeStarkey]

Why? Because it worked so well in Germany after WW I ?

Because the war mongers took charge because the people could not control them? We aren't Germany of post WWI.

Your mistake is a false derivative analogy.

Ok, then why would "pulling fangs" of "neo-cons" be particulary "good for America?"



That's OK Jake, I actually don't expect you to support your opinion with a logical arguement.

That's OK Samson because you can't comprehend an objective argument.

13 years of war have not brought peace.

We need to stand the generals and admirals and the industries down, so we don't waste anymore of our treasure.

We can easily defend our interests at 50% of what we are spending with an effective naval and air power that can shield America and project power and punishment anywhere in the word, as well as an exceptional ground force.

 

[RandomVariable]

It is amazing how the Liberals go bat shit crazy over cuts to the military. You only hear them talking about spending cuts and the debt when we talk about these types of cuts.

Quite frankly I wonder if they get that tingling sensation in their legs when this happens...........

Riddle me this.............Which President recently caused cuts to the Commissaries used by the military in the U.S.................They are now closed on Sundays thanks to the Sequester deal that was the brain child of this President. He spends his butt off but can't think of anything else to cut but services to the troops themselves............

Which President also caused their co-pays to go up................

Which President wouldn't give the cost of living raises to the retirees.....................


I believe cuts are needed everywhere. Not just in the military. And the across the board buts just on the numbers is utter BS. There are plenty of other areas to cut instead of operational troops. While they have instigated a Freeze on hiring Civilian employees, why didn't they start there instead of actual troops....................

Recently the GAO released 200 Billion in wasteful spending..........Yet we have a Gov't that would rather shut down Commissaries on Sundays to save 1.4 BILLION a year, than look at this other wasteful spending instead.

Frankly, you Liberals Disgust me.

Don't even attempt to bring up sequester. I watched every one of the Republicans on the Senate Armed Forces committee give a sweet little speech that they were disappointed that the sequester was going into affect and then they turned and walked right out the door. Those Senators right there could have done something to stop the sequester and they turned their backs on the armed forces and walked out so don't give me any "Obama's sequester" because when it came down to the line the Republicans did it to the military, not the Democrats.

 

[Moonglow]

The president does not set all the rules in the military....

 

[eagle1462010]

DoD budget seeks cuts in BAH, commissary, Tricare benefits | Navy Times | navytimes.com

Some highlights of the Defense Department’s budget proposal for fiscal 2015 include the first-ever rollback in Basic Allowance for Housing; a military pay raise that would match last year’s 1 percent hike, the lowest in the volunteer era; massive cuts to commissary subsidies; and potentially increased health care fees for both active-duty families and retirees.

On housing allowances, Hagel said the Pentagon will “slow the growth” until BAH covers only about 95 percent of estimated rental costs, with troops paying the other 5 percent out of pocket. In addition, the monthly BAH check provided to about 1 million service members will be cut further by eliminating the stipend for renters insurance that for years has been a key component in calculating BAH.

Next year’s pay raise for troops would be 1 percent, the same as this year. Those are the lowest pay raises since the end of the draft in 1973 and fall below estimated growth in average private-sector wages in recent years.

The Defense Department aims to slash $1 billion from the $1.4 billion commissary subsidy. Pentagon officials insist that no commissaries will be closed but acknowledge that prices will likely rise on many items as local facilities absorb the reduced subsidies.

Changes are also coming to Tricare. “We will ask retirees and some active-duty family members to pay a little more in their deductibles and co-pays,” Hagel said. Officials have not provided specific details.

 

[SmedlyButler]

Maybe I'm too cynical but sometimes it seems that the guys who favor the largest military spending are also the guys who like most to play keyboard tough-guy. Vicarious bully syndrome? VBS, I think I just made up a new acronym, like we need another one.

 

[eagle1462010]

It is amazing how the Liberals go bat shit crazy over cuts to the military. You only hear them talking about spending cuts and the debt when we talk about these types of cuts.

Quite frankly I wonder if they get that tingling sensation in their legs when this happens...........

Riddle me this.............Which President recently caused cuts to the Commissaries used by the military in the U.S.................They are now closed on Sundays thanks to the Sequester deal that was the brain child of this President. He spends his butt off but can't think of anything else to cut but services to the troops themselves............

Which President also caused their co-pays to go up................

Which President wouldn't give the cost of living raises to the retirees.....................


I believe cuts are needed everywhere. Not just in the military. And the across the board buts just on the numbers is utter BS. There are plenty of other areas to cut instead of operational troops. While they have instigated a Freeze on hiring Civilian employees, why didn't they start there instead of actual troops....................

Recently the GAO released 200 Billion in wasteful spending..........Yet we have a Gov't that would rather shut down Commissaries on Sundays to save 1.4 BILLION a year, than look at this other wasteful spending instead.

Frankly, you Liberals Disgust me.

Don't even attempt to bring up sequester. I watched every one of the Republicans on the Senate Armed Forces committee give a sweet little speech that they were disappointed that the sequester was going into affect and then they turned and walked right out the door. Those Senators right there could have done something to stop the sequester and they turned their backs on the armed forces and walked out so don't give me any "Obama's sequester" because when it came down to the line the Republicans did it to the military, not the Democrats.

BS. That was Obama's plan. He stated that other cuts would be found to avoid the sequester cuts. He also said that he would not ask for more taxes instead.

And as usual HE LIED...............

They cut the commissaries back then to the point of shutting down the commissaries stateside on Sundays.....................

And now they propose to cut 1 BILLION of 1.4 BILLION to them now. This is a basic service to the military, and it's total BS...........

Perhaps one day you sorry jokers will look at the waste and fraud spending that could be cut instead of cutting basic services of those who put their butts on the line for this country.