*Some 1,271 government organizations and 1,931 private companies work on programs related to counterterrorism, homeland security and intelligence in about 10,000 locations across the United States.
*An estimated 854,000 people, nearly 1.5 times as many people as live in Washington, D.C., hold top-secret security clearances.
*In Washington and the surrounding area, 33 building complexes for top-secret intelligence work are under construction or have been built since September 2001. Together they occupy the equivalent of almost three Pentagons or 22 U.S. Capitol buildings–about 17 million square feet of space.
*Many security and intelligence agencies do the same work, creating redundancy and waste. For example, 51 federal organizations and military commands, operating in 15 U.S. cities, track the flow of money to and from terrorist networks.
http://chuckbaldwinlive.com/home/?p=1926
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Think we could cut the defense budget? Easily but, think about this. This massive amount of waste is employing millions of people across the nation either directly or indirectly like in the construction of all these buildings.
We have a government that has been so out of control for so many decades that we are now at risk of massive unemployment if we just try to limit the spending of government on government.
Should we endure the pain of higher unemployment (hundreds of thousands will be laid off in cities and states this year, yet) by adding cuts to defense? If not now, when do we make the cuts and how do we get Congress to make them.
44 states make parts for one jet fighter. Over 700,000 workers, directly and indirectly are employed due to defense spending in Fla and Ca. alone. 200,000 are employed in just one city in Texas. Millions across the nation are tied to defense spending. Some companies sell copiers, vehicles, contract services, power, etc. and don't make a single defense item but, are still dependent on defense spending that for the next year, will cost us about $900 billion according to the President's budget request.
Department of Defense Page 48
Total outlays $718.8 Billion
Homeland Defense Page 84
Total outlays $53.6 Billion
Veterans affairs
Total outlays $123.7 Billion Page 119
Total for defense (includes Homeland Sec.) and Veterans $896.1 Billion
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2011/assets/budget.pdf
When do we "bite the bullet," and lay off the millions that need to be laid off from defense?
Maybe we should seek payment from countries that require our presence. The payments would offset some of our costs.
ReplyDeleteI agree, they need to pay for protection, we'd be the "Capones" of the world
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