The President on the military

Like I’ve said repeatedly this election season, I can’t watch political speeches anymore, so Obama’s acceptance speech last night was no exception. Which left me to read the transcript this morning. This is what he said about the military, defense and veterans;

And tonight, we pay tribute to the Americans who still serve in harm’s way. We are forever in debt to a generation whose sacrifice has made this country safer and more respected. We will never forget you. And so long as I’m Commander-in-Chief, we will sustain the strongest military the world has ever known.
(APPLAUSE)
When you take off the uniform, we will serve you as well as you’ve served us because no one who fights for this country should have to fight for a job, or a roof over their head, or the care that they need when they come home.
(APPLAUSE)
Around the world, we’ve strengthened old alliances and forged new coalitions to stop the spread of nuclear weapons. We’ve reasserted our power across the Pacific, and stood up to China on behalf of our workers. From Burma to Libya to South Sudan, we have advanced the rights and dignity of all human beings, men and women; Christians and Muslims and Jews.
(APPLAUSE)
But for all the progress we’ve made, challenges remain. Terrorist plots must be disrupted. Europe’s crisis must be contained.

Our commitment to Israel’s security must not waver, and neither must our pursuit of peace.
(APPLAUSE)
The Iranian government must face a world that stays united against its nuclear ambitions. The historic change sweeping across the Arab World must be defined not by the iron fist of a dictator or the hate of extremists, but by the hopes and aspirations of ordinary people who are reaching for the same rights that we celebrate here today.
(APPLAUSE)
So now we face a choice. My opponent and his running mate are new to foreign policy, but from all that we’ve seen and heard, they want to take us back to an era of blustering and blundering that cost America so dearly.

After all, you don’t call Russia our number one enemy, not Al Qaeda, Russia, unless you’re still stuck in a Cold War mind warp.

My opponent — my opponent said it was “tragic” to end the war in Iraq, and he won’t tell us how he’ll end the war in Afghanistan. Well I have, and I will. And while my opponent would spend more money on military hardware that our Joint Chiefs don’t even want, I will use the money we’re no longer spending on war to pay down our debt and put more people back to work rebuilding roads and bridges and schools and runways.

Because after two wars that have cost us thousands of lives and over a trillion dollars, it’s time to do some nation- building right here at home.

Basically, it’s all smoke and mirrors. He honors the troops and veterans with his words, but he’s pricing veterans out of the programs that they earned and broke decades of promises that the government made to veterans. And I’m not sure how he intends to “sustain the strongest military the world has ever known” when he’s planning to slash the living crap out of the defense budget. Not to mention slashing manpower, weapons and R&D.

Russia is a greater threat now than al Qaeda – because this administration have allowed them to determine what our policy towards are allies will be. That’s not Cold War mentality, that’s the situation this administration created. The “tragedy” of ending the war in Iraq too soon has become apparent this week as Iraq allies itself in Syria with Iran against the Syrian people.

Obama’s attitude towards veterans illustrates why the economy hasn’t healed in the last four years. Employers need someone that they can believe, and Obama can’t be believed. He told veterans last year that he wouldn’t balance the national budget on the backs of veterans, however, veterans are the only people in the country facing any changes in their benefits. The benefits that they earned.

Obama has made promises over the last four years that he might have intended to keep, but he hasn’t so how can anyone believe anything he said last night? How do you make decisions that effect your own future, or the future of your business when you’re getting faulty information from the country’s leaders.

He says he wants to raise taxes on “the rich”, but under Bill Clinton, who promised a tax cut, we learned that even social security recipients are among the people Democrats call “the rich”. We learned last night that Democrats plan to slash defense even more than the $1.2T cuts looming over the Defense Department. I’m sure Russia is just one of the countries rubbing their hands together over the cuts.

Category: 2012 election, Barack Obama/Joe Biden, Military issues, Veterans Issues