GOP moves to spare defense, Democrats whine
Fox News reports that the House Republicans are finally stirring their lazy asses to spare the Defense Department from shouldering the entire burden of the $1/2 trillion in cuts they’ll endure because the super committee couldn’t be super last year. And of course, the Republicans are targeting “entitlements” – you know the same kind of things that veterans are expected to take in the ass from the Defense Department’s Panetta Hatchet Brigade. And just as expected, the Democrats are popping smoke to protect their constituency;
“They have a totally lopsided approach,” said Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., accusing Republicans of protecting special interests at the expense of the poor. “The result is they whack everybody else.”
So I guess now veterans are a “special interest group” and the Democrats want to pit us against the people who are expecting their benefits having accomplished nothing except successfully navigating the birth canal.
And the White House has issued a veto threat over the Republican bill.
An administration statement released Wednesday evening said the bill “would impose deep budget cuts that cost jobs and hurt middle-class and vulnerable Americans.”
But, what about the ‘deep budget cuts” in our defense budget in a time of war? Not to mention the veterans who are subjected to increased costs on fixed incomes so someone who hasn’t worked a day in their lives can afford their cable bill for their big screen TV? Of course, having not seen anything from the Republicans, I have no doubt that they’re willing to subject veterans to those increases anyway – the difference being that I don’t hear anyone coming to our defense like that shrieking moron Van Hollen is rushing to the defense of welfare checks and food stamps.
Category: Barack Obama/Joe Biden, Congress sucks, Military issues, Veterans Issues
It’s a no-brainer that Defense dollars should be held fast at least until entitlements had largely withered on the vine, but I have a problem when DoD is ignored when it comes to the Defense budget.
“Today’s threats do not require an East Coast missile field, and we do not have plans to do so.” – Gen. Charles Jacoby, NORTHCOM
“”We need to proceed with missile defense whether this president wants to or not.” – Rep. Michael Turner, R-Ohio
Entitlement spending covers entitlements – things that we have paid in to that we are “entitled” to receive back from. The top two on that list is Medicare and Social Security. Look at your w-2, we all pay out to these programs with every check. This is why I get extremely irritated when anyone says they want to cut entitlement spending. This means I’ve paid in to something with an expected return and they want to cut back on that.
On defense spending. I can’t help but think there is some waste there, unneeded projects, and areas that can be tightened some. But we have a House divided. The republicans do not want any cuts to defense at all ever. The democrats do not want cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, TANF, or SNAP programs. Neither side is willing to budge at all. So the Navy gets several ne destroyers at a cost of $7 billion each. And the greater population of Florida and Nevada continue to get money from Social Security. And the greater populations of Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri, and Georgia continue to get TANF money. And then everyone complains about the government spending too much. But don’t cut my Medicare. And don’t cut my Social Security. And don’t cut the F-35 program.
I do not pay into food stamps or unemployment benefits for 99 weeks from my paycheck, cut those entitlements. I am 34 and have been paying SSI and Medicare since I was 15. I know that I will never see a dime when I become old enough to retire. I just write that amout of money off every month and pay into my 401K and IRA accounts.
#3 Jack,
I know SSI and Medicare won’t be there when I retire. But My mother is currently using both. Each time someone says they want to cut entitlement spending, what they are saying is they want to stop paying her medical fees. My father served in the Navy. He spent a civilian career for 20 years working at Barksdale Air Force Base. Now he gets Social Security and Medicare. But the GOP wants to take that from him so that Paris Hilton gets a larger tax credit then next time she buys a new plane.
I’ve got an idea. The government wants to cut spending? Fine. Cut taxes — ALL taxes — by the amount they want to save. The money they still have coming in after that, they’re free to spend where they see fit.
Wadda you mean, that won’t work??? That’s what I do when the cost of everything keeps going up and I have to decide what I can live without, out of my increasingly shrinking paycheck.
*sigh*
Here’s all you need to know about why our federal government is in such deep financial dudu these days:
1961, federal defense spending, %US GDP/%budget: 8.9%/50.8%
2011, federal defense spending, %US GDP: 5.1%/20.1%
In comparison,
1961, federal “human resources” spending, %US GDP/%budget: 5.5%/30.5%
2011, federal “human resources” spending, %US GDP/%budget: 13.4%/65.7%
We’re spending ourselves broke trying to pay for unsustainable unearned entitlements (they’re the majority of federal “human resources” spending).
UV: If Medicare and SSI was paid out just to the people who paid into it, like your parents, there wouldn’t be any problem with either of those two systems now.
Keep up the massive Defense cuts, & we’ll all be “vulnerable Americans”.
& Hondo — good post. Thanks.
@PintoNag – I see your astute proposal and raise you that we abolish withholding. Most people don’t miss what they don’t have. Want to energize the populace against the rape and theft from the Federal government? Force them to write a check every month for the taxes the government says they owe.
@4 I would rather take the money they take out for SSI and pay for my parents retirement. I think I can better spend that money than the gubment
#10 Jack,
In hindsight I completely agree with you. I would love to take that money out and save for their retirement. I absolutely guarantee I can invest it better than the government. But it is too late for that. They are already retired (and I am rapidly approaching that time myself). Realize that a huge number of people live completely off of government money.. The largest portion of those people are over 65. They are World War II vets, Vietnam vets, Korean War vets, and they depend on those entitlements to stay alive. Now the GOP congress wants to take that away from them so that George Clooney and Nicole Kidman can pay a lower tax rate. Or take away their Medicare so they can fund some absurd military program the military doesn’t need or want, but is manufactured in a particular congressman’s district.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not defending democrats here either. They never met a spending program they didn’t like. But the GOP constantly complains about our spending levels. Yet every spending bill originates in the GOP controlled House. That giant, huge, massive federal debt we have? It didn’t come about without a majority of the House voting for it.
Hell, Jack – I wish I’d have had the opportunity to put the 6+% SSI tax that’s been taken out of my paychecks for more than 35 years into my retirement – say, the equivalent of a Roth IRA – and forgo social security entirely. I’m pretty sure I’d be at least as well off than I’ll be if/when I get a chance to draw anything from Social Security. And I’d guess I’d probably have been much better off under that scenario.
But what do I know.
Hondo,
If I had been able to put back the 6+% SSI each month (had I known then what I know now) I wouldn’t still be having to work. Dammit.
6%?? Your employer puts in 7% and you put in 7% to a modest investment return of %6 from to age of 22 to the age of 61 and assume your income was $50k and never grew, you would have over $1,000,000.00 at retirement. I’d take that over SS any day….
Hondo & Utah Vet- Don’t forget that your employer has matched your contribution all those years… another cost of your employment. I notice that the SSA leaves that off the statement they send me periodically.
Jack- Most states require employers to pay for unemployment insurance. Again, a cost of your employment.
UtahVet:
Need I remind you which party has held control of both houses of Congress for close to 58 of the 79 years since early 1933? And of the fact that the other major party has controlled both houses of Congress for a bit over 14 years during that same time span, with the remaining time split?
Yes, both major parties deserve blame. But one IMO deserves far more blame than the other for our current mess, if for no other reason than the fact that they were “driving that train” roughly 3/4 of the time.
I’ll reserve my opinion on whether they were also “high on cocaine” (or something else) while driving that train. But regarding out of control spending, IMO both parties really need to “watch their speed”. (smile)
Old Tanker: the employee OASDI (Social Security) portion of payroll taxes is 6.2%. The remaining 1.45% paid by the employee is for Medicare. The total of the two is 7.65%. Each is matched by the employer.
For the past 2 years, the employee SSI tax rate has been temporarily reduced to 4.2% (employers still pay 6.2%). That temporary reduction expires at the end of this year.
Well every time we republicans try to stand up for the troops or veterans we get accused of politicising them by the opposition.
I think it is obvious how things are playing out. The dems are using the veterans as a means of getting republicans to try and cut entitlements so that the dems can once again scream at the top of their lungs that republicans are trying to cut social security and medicaid.
The dems are using the troops as pawns just as the president described them as fighting for him personally.
So correct me if I’m wrong, because I admit I might be, but I thought the GOP proposed reform to Social Security and Medicare wouldn’t effect people currently benefiting from the programs?
Article:
The Defense Budget: Wait Till the Fall
By Gordon Adams,Professor of International Relations, School of International Service, American University
February 13, 2012
The defense budget for FY 2013 is already on ice. The deal was done last August, so the FY 2013 defense number has already been accepted, by the Congress and by the White House. There is not likely to be a lot of debate about it; maybe there will even be an appropriation before the end of the next fiscal year.
The McKeons, McCains, and Grahams of the world have been tilting at the long-term defense plan for several months now. They want to protect defense for a sequester, due in January next year. They have even introduced a bill to do so, which was immediately swept aside where it matters, in the Senate, by the Democratic leadership. Tilt as they will, their effort is doomed to failure this year.
It is doomed because this is an election year and the budget and the economy are what is on people’s minds, not the defense budget. A deal on the budget awaits the election outcome. Once that is clear, all the elements of a deal are waiting in the wings: the payroll tax extension, the need for further growth in the debt ceiling, the immanent expiration of the Bush tax cuts, the doctor’s Medicare fix, unemployment compensation extension, and, yes, a looming sequester on discretionary spending across the board.
In other words, everything will be on the table, just where it has been for the last two years, waiting for a deal. And the Congress will be lame duck, maybe the President, too.
Just the right mix for a deal. Might be what Congress does so well – boot the issue down the road for another year – might be for longer. But for a negotiation to take place everything has to be on the table. So tilt away, so-called defenders of defense. There are bigger fish to fry, but not until the fall.
http://security.nationaljournal.com/2012/02/will-defense-hawks-win-the-def.php#2161798
They should leave DOD alone. After all, how are we to continue fighting on BHO’s behalf if they start screwing with everything?
There it is…The money shot! “So I guess now veterans are a “special interest group” and the Democrats want to pit us against the people who are expecting their benefits having accomplished nothing except successfully navigating the birth canal.”.
You can’t make this sort of shit up….Good one, Jonn.
Ryan’s budget will never get thru the senate, and even if it did, it’ll get vetoed.
Hey Joe–NO budget will get through the Senate, as Dingy Harry has seen to for over three years now.
The sad thing is, the Obama administration doesn’t care about our military or the military of other countries. I’d like to comment on Vice President Biden’s nonsensical rant: “When we took office, let me remind you, there was virtually no international pressure on Iran. We were the problem. We were diplomatically isolated in the world, in the region, in Europe. We were neither fully respected by our friends nor feared by our opponents. Today is it starkly, starkly different.” First of all, his statements are incorrect. Under President Bush we did have an effective coalition of countries. Though the media downplayed their roles significantly, we have gotten support world-wide, and soldiers not only from America but also these countries perished in the battle against terror. Vice President Biden belittles all these countries’ support and effectively spits on the grave of their brave soldiers who lost their lives in the fight. I came across the casualty list as of 2006 in our coalition fight against terror: Britain, 119; Italy, 33; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 17; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11; Denmark, 6; Slovakia, 3; El Salvador, 3; ; Thailand, 2; Estonia, 2; The Netherlands, 2; Australia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Romania, and Latvia, 1 each. Has the Vice President forsaken these men and woman? Obviously, their commitment in the Middle East has been meaningless to him and most probably to the whole Obama administration. Also, I find the thought that we were not feared by our opponents under the Bush administration completely wrong. Say what you will about our former president but one thing you can’t say was that he was weak with the military. On the contrary, when Bush was in power countries were definitely on alert and knew a patriot missile could be headed there way at any minute. In contrast to Bush, let’s look at Obama. After a world-wide apology tour, cutting military expenditures and wanting terrorist combatants to have a trial in civilian court, Obama has made the United States the laughing stock of the world. Not only do countries like Iran not fear us but instead they are emboldened by… Read more »
Either things are exactly as they should be or some higher power fixes the deck to make things as they are. Lets look at the first possibility. Every living thing on earth is acting in its own best interest and the current state of affairs at any moment is an equilibrium of all of those actions. In that case all of the hot air expounded here, via the media and interactively is tilting at windmills because as each of us tries to take a bigger piece of the pie for himself or herself or itself it takes away a piece from something or someone else who reacts against the interest of he that took it away. In other words, squeeze the welfare class further and you’ll likely get more crime, stop influencing world affairs through foreign aid (bribes) and you’ll likely need a strong military to clean up the mess from unfriendlies run amok. Right now, if you believe the polls, there is one voter that likes Obama for every voter that dislikes him. My suggestion: Localize your needs and take care of yourself, your family, your friends, your community. The big powers out there will be greedy, self-serving, only fair at what they do, and maybe occasionally successful, too. If you want to make a difference, and this is innately hypocritical since I’m writing this, get out there and actually do something instead of complaining here. Boris Yeltsin was a flawed human being (aren’t we all?) but he got enough of his followers together to circle the Kremlin with tanks and change the status quo. What are you actually doing beyond complaining and posting on websites? Lastly, appreciate what is good with our world and our country. Even with our flaws, we are still one of the best nations in the world.