Your Tricare surplus at work
We wrote a few months ago about the Department of Defense raiding the $770 million from our surplus Tricare premiums for other things while they were jacking up our premiums. Well, you’ll be happy to know that, despite the sequester and the cut backs in spending, your money is going to a good cause – the DoD is spending $7 billion on wind energy from Reuters by way of Hot Air (See how I linked to you, Hot Air? You should try it sometime);
The U.S. Army has picked 17 companies that will be eligible to receive orders for wind energy under an umbrella contract valued at up to $7 billion, the Pentagon said on Monday.
The companies include many large energy producers including Dominion Energy, a unit of Dominion Resources Inc ; the U.S. unit of Spain’s Acciona SA ; Duke Energy Corp ; the U.S. unit of France’s EDF Energies Nouvelles; and the U.S. unit of Spain’s Iberdrola SA.
So, that should put a smile on your face when you pay your Tricare premium this month.
Thanks to Paul for the link.
Category: Big Army
Someone please explain to me why this wind farm crap falls under DoD?
We’re closing nukes as fast as possible (five this year so far) and all those plants we were supposed to be building have all fallen off the radar with the possible exception of South Texas Project and Vogtle.
So yeah, let’s eliminate a proven reliable, dense, useful source of energy, and replace it with something that nobody wants to live next to (wind farms) that are shut down as quickly as they’re built due to financial viability (or lack thereof) and an availability of about 20-25 percent (versus 95-plus percent for nuclear.)
2017 can’t come fast enough.
@1 all the little special snowflakes here in Mass who voted for the wind farm on Cape Cod are now all crying because apparently the stupid b4stards didn’t realize that wind farm consists of giant f#cking propellers that make giant propeller noise and create a low level sound wave equivalent to several hundred watts of subwoofer bass sound thumping off your chest and vital organs….now these silly twats are saying they still support wind power just as long as it’s somewhere else not in their back yards…sound familiar?
We have become some of the stupidest people on the face of the f#cking earth…I think everyone of these twats on Cape Cod thinks we can build a giant windfarm in the desert and transmit power all over the nation….we can but the cost and reliability will be d1ck compared to nukes…that’s the reality…but we don’t like reality in the US we love fantasy, and all of these 4ssholes want all the latest technology but none of the burdens of producing the power that technology requires for a successful deployment.
Too many liberal arts degrees, not nearly enough engineering and science degrees and this is what you get….stupid 4ssholes at every turn.
I can’t really see where the outrage is coming from. Wind power and solar makes sense in our recent conflicts. Transporting energy by road and air through a hostile AO is dangerous and ridiculously expensive. This makes it sound as if it’s a one for one “raid the surplus for a green initative” deal. Pick a program that you disagree with and tie it to unpopular revenue generation… It’s all coming out of the same pot.
@3 A promise made by the government and not kept fuels the outrage would be my guess…as with all government promises made to the people the government lies regularly. Veterans have risked more and sacrificed more and in most cases given more than the average citizen, it would be nice if they were also not “F#cked More” on the promises made to them, perhaps being f#cked less would be the minimum standard with not being f#cked at all as the goal. A surplus like TriCare funding is not really a surplus it is monies to be captured for distribution at a later date which would make it a funded liability. The government has far too many unfunded liabilities now, such as social security and medicare. The government calls something a surplus when it finds more money in an account than it’s spending today, without reckoning on whether or not that money is due to someone tomorrow. The TriCare surplus is not really a surplus it’s money to guarantee a continuation of benefits as veterans of today and age and require that additional care that often comes from taking care of veterans whose bodies tend to get abused as young men and women and need a bit more TLC at age 50 and beyond than the soft handed civilians sitting at a f#cking desk for 30 years require. Social security was also once separate from the general fund until some pr1ck discovered there was more money set aside than required to pay it currently, the government started taking that money and applying it elsewhere consequently there is no money in SS these days and it all drains the general fund as the number of people reaching the age where they were promised SS increases. The same will happen with TriCare, the surplus that’s not really a surplus will be raided down to nothing and in 15 years when these veterans start reaching their 60’s there will be no money to cover the additional expenses. If we want to discuss what we really need in the budget, that requires hard work, and… Read more »
Dave–no, they don’t. For smaller bases, etc., fast pack diesels are the far better choice.
For DoD facilities stateside, utilization of the local utility grid.
This is the same administration that pays $26/gallon for “green” biofuels instead of the commercially available fuel for $3/gallon.
This is the same administration that has TWO aircraft carrier refueling overhauls on hold. These aircraft carriers, BTW, go 25 YEARS between refuelings. This also has a ripple effect on other refuelings coming down the pike.
Oh, it’s not a one-for-one deal. It’s more like ten-for-one.
The Tricare surplus was actually a surplus – it was our premiums that we paid out of our pockets that Tricare didn’t need yet.
@6 To me Jonn that’s not really a surplus it’s monies that will be owed to fund an impending liability. Insurance premiums against future losses have to be netted out during the accounting process for the profit component to be considered actual profit.
It’s really similar to how SS got hosed. That’s considered a questionable accounting practice in the private sector. Monies paid today against future liabilities can’t be considered profit in the private sector only governments consider that a profit or surplus, and only in the government can you pretend that tomorrow’s liabilities don’t affect today’s income. That type of accounting has served us really well with SS, Medicare, etc…surpluses, trust funds, etc…all BS when the government is involved in the accounting process.
Your premiums are designed to provide coverage as your battered legs get worse with age, not to fund giant f#cking windmills that won’t produce enough power to run your garage never mind your house….
Must be what they are using to pay for the “light traceable weapons” they are sending to Syria