08 August 2011

Political Speechifying

I'm at a lunch for military businesses, and SEN Kay Hagan (D-NC) is giving a keynote address. Plenty of political chederleading about debt/fiscal crisis.
The part that's wrankled me, though, is this... Per SEN Hagan, North Carolina has:
- 3d largest military footprint in US
- 1.12% of federal defense spending coming to the state
She wants to change that ratio so that spending is closer in line with thr size of the military presence.
Well, let's see... no shipyards, no aircraft assembly lines, no armored vehicle plants...
You cut off Blackwater.
You've got light infantry/SOF guys who are *supposed* to be gear-lite.
Essentially, you're planning to boost this funding with base reconstruction, which is not significantly different from any other construction. It's just that you get to claim it as "defense spending" when it all comes in.
Finally, why are treating defense spending as a jobs program, instead of putting dollars where they make sense for, y'know, defending the country...?

By: Brant

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