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 The Pentagon’s Spare Parts ProblemPosted on Jun 12, 2010
As budget hawks continue their attack on spending cuts around the country, it might be useful to look at the Pentagon after a report released Thursday claimed that at least $7 billion in taxpayer funds is being wasted on purchases of spare parts that the military ends up not needing. The Pentagon’s 2010 budget of $663.8 billion is more than seven times the combined military budgets of the next 14 ranking nations. —JCL
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By ThomasG, June 13, 2010 at 12:09 pm Link to this comment
Major Domo, June 13 at 9:33 am,
Perhaps you could get some of those spare parts sent to rico, suave, perhaps he can find some way to interface them with his brain and use them to improve his level of awareness.
Report thisBy rico, suave, June 13, 2010 at 10:15 am Link to this comment
MarthaA:
I challenge you to submit a post without the word “populace” in it.
Report thisBy Major Domo, June 13, 2010 at 4:33 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
The problem with “spare parts” is not so much the quantity of parts laying around…it’s the lack of military maintenance facilities to quickly repair the assets and return them to the field. Instead, there’s huge numbers of “disposable” parts on hand that can be tossed into the mix within the space between a heartbeat and tossed into the trash heap once they’re not longer working. Gone are the days where the services trained their soldiers to get into the guts of a device or system down to the resistor, capacitor and chip level…too much time and money wasted on troops who should be at the front lines, not on a bench. It’s our disposable society running in full gear. Funny to see the price tag for the real cost of being a throw-away society…isn’t it?
Report thisBy Paul_GA, June 13, 2010 at 3:41 am Link to this comment
Perpetual war will be the death of the USA yet.
Report thisBy MarthaA, June 12, 2010 at 8:44 pm Link to this comment
Apparently the military that now is representing privatized corporations, instead of the populace, continues to squander taxpayer social capital.
Report thisBy FRTothus, June 12, 2010 at 8:16 pm Link to this comment
The Pentagon is only the face of the problem. The
problem is US militarism and the parasitic and
pathologically paranoid National Security State, a
not-so-clear by ever-present danger to our Republic,
its standing corporate military that serves as the
mailed fist for Western economic colonialization,
paid for with falling wages and living standards
here, manned by a poverty draft, and proxy-enforced
mass destitution abroad.
“Arms manufacturers need war like umbrella makers
need rain” (Edward Galeno)
“War is good for business, invest your children”
Report this(Unknown)
By rico, suave, June 12, 2010 at 6:00 pm Link to this comment
berniem:
“Amerika’s largest industry is weapons manufacturing and war.”
Well, Bernie, now that’s just not true and you know it. What was the point of making such a stupid statement? Your momma should wash your mouth out with soap for telling such a fib.
Report thisBy berniem, June 12, 2010 at 4:12 pm Link to this comment
Corporations ARE the govt.which collects revenues to give to the pentagon to fund our outrageous military which ensures the hegemony of American multi-national corporate capitalism. A percentage of the revenues collected both on the books via the IRS and otherwise by means we can only guess at is used to provide for all those “entitlements” the cancervatives so like to rant about but which serve the noble purpose of keeping the natives from getting restless. Face it; Amerika’s largest industry is weapons manufacturing and war.
Report thisBy PatrickHenry, June 12, 2010 at 11:46 am Link to this comment
That way they can be listed as surplus and “given” to our allies.
The Pentagon budget needs to be cut in half tomorrow with further reductions pending.
We need deep sea robotics now! The Pentagon didn’t see that threat to national security comming.
Report this