For those couple of you that have no problem with Defense cuts

[Trip McNeely]

Want to know how to cut one trillion dollars over the next 30 years? It's called the f35. It cost more than all the bailouts combined, its cost exceeds that of the entire operating budget of NASA over the existence of the agency, it is replacing a plane that has 122 kills and zero losses, and is on its way to become the most expensive project ever undertaken by mankind.

But yeah we can't cut that, we need the f22 and the f35 and the f15 and harriers and typhoons.

See, that's ridiculous. However, I would put entitlements at the very tip top and cut them with the sharpest knife.

[Sgt Beavis]

Frankly I think we should kill the F35 project. Replace it with the F-15SE as a stop gap and move on with the next gen unmanned fighters.

[Crownline79]

I guess the navy dosnt need any of the new jets, since they can't afford a refuel on the nuclear carriers needing it

[Forever_frost]

See, here's the issue. The way these cuts are being implemented is to make it look the worst possible way. Dead end projects aren't being canned, they're cutting necessary and unnecessary projects the same levels so you get the Osprey continue to be funded while dropping our naval fleet to levels we haven't seen since WW2. You have soldiers being told they can't train because they don't have the money, but the AF can write up new medals, have someone design them, and then start handing them out to officers.

85 billion out of a 4 trillion dollar budget is nothing. It could easily be cut by small measures such as limiting the president to 1 vacation a year, insisting his wife can't take a separate one and FUCKING LEAVING AF1 parked unless it's required for diplomatic reasons.

This is a cut on projected increases, not a cut in baseline. This doesn't slow growth, but is only a hat trick to have people demand more spending, more borrowing. Had some time to research between reading about John Rawls.

[jw33]

Exactly right. It isn't a real/actual cut (as in less tomorrow vs. what we spend today) at all, only a cut in the amount of a predetermined increase. And the idea that even before these "cuts" go into effect, just the very talk of them, means that the first things to be affected are body armor for soldiers is completely absurd. And when this argument is made that instead of a money problem it is actually leadership/management with their head up their ass, it is rebuffed with this notion that you must be anti-American and want to see out men/women killed in combat. Please....

[aggie97]

why don't they just go raid the DHS stores of equipment...I hear they have been well equipped over the last 3 years.

[ceyko]

85 billion out of a 4 trillion dollar budget is nothing. It could easily be cut by small measures such as limiting the president to 1 vacation a year, insisting his wife can't take a separate one and FUCKING LEAVING AF1 parked unless it's required for diplomatic reasons.

Is there any public data on how much each POTUS cost us in security? I do not think people realize how much it costs ALL of us for Chewy to show up on these stupid shows, for the POTUS to bounce around on vacations and so forth. In my opinion, the POTUS job should be like any other. X amount of vacation time per year and the Secret Service/Other POTUS security should only be used for official business outside of that vacation time.

Showing up on reality TV shows and TV award shows is NOT official business.

[ceyko]

Totally agree.

Wasn't there a Senator or Congressman that recently found somewhere around 50 or 60 billion dollars in wasteful spending by the Pentagon? That could pretty much make up the shortfall..

I want our men and woman to have the best equipment but it doesn't take a genius to see that defense acquisitions are broken. The F-35 has no business costing over a trillion bucks over its lifetime. That program should have been killed long ago. The F-22 wasn't much better..

It's still possible, but my hopes are really low on my upside conspiracies. So, there was a time when I was really naive and would brush off these overages. Thinking "Well, they are secretly utilizing the technology for other things that are for the better of the military....etc..etc They are hiding those costs under this project, that project...etc - Cause OBVIOUSLY they'd not spend so much on one project that is not working out."

I do not think so positively anymore.