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Bush's Desperate Attempt To Forestall Jobs Implosion
Michael Shedlock
About this author:- Bio & more articles
- Visit: Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis
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The headline reads: Bush Approves Army Reorganization.
President Bush has approved what officials are describing as the most significant reorganization of American ground forces since World War II, signing off on a plan that will keep more troops than previously envisioned in Europe and add large numbers of soldiers to bases in Colorado, Georgia and Texas, Army officials said Wednesday.The headline is of course complete nonsense. The details highlight a complete waste of money.
The basing plan unveiled Wednesday is the final step in a detailed program for deciding where an army that is scheduled to grow by 65,000 will live and train for years to come. It significantly changes the military footprint that existed before terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and also alters a plan adopted with great fanfare by the Pentagon in 2004.
Specifically, the Army will keep one heavy brigade in Germany until 2012 and another until 2013 rather than rapidly reducing Army forces in Europe, as originally planned.
The commitment for thousands of extra troops in Europe was advocated as necessary to sustain training and other exercises with foreign militaries and as a hedge against risks to American security. In addition, their new housing was not yet ready at bases in the United States.
The full basing plan for the United States, Europe and South Korea was presented to Mr. Bush and Vice President Cheney in the Oval Office on Monday by Gen. Richard Cody, the Army vice chief of staff, and Pete Geren, the Army secretary.
The Army had been given presidential approval to expand its forces by 74,000 over all by 2010, including the reserve component, to meet the stress of Iraq and Afghanistan and to prepare for future threats.
New construction to build housing, headquarters and motor pools — as well as health-care and child-care centers — will top $66.4 billion by 2013, General Cody said, stressing that the Army was paying special attention to quality-of-life issues for the all-volunteer force.
This is not a "support the troops" agenda but rather a "keep more troops in harm's way" agenda. The altered plans are not "to meet the stress of Iraq and Afghanistan and to prepare for future threats" but rather an admission that there are simply no jobs no jobs available for returning troops.
Bush would rather waste $70 billion and another 10,000 lives than admit his programs are a complete failures.
"With great fanfare" the Pentagon adopted a reduction in overseas force plan in 2004. The only thing that has changed since then is more lives have been lost, more money has been wasted, and the economy has soured. There are no jobs here so Bush will do whatever he can, including the deliberate sacrificing the lives of US soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the deliberate waste of $billions elsewhere, just to prevent unemployment numbers from rising headed into an election year.
What's even sadder is that spineless Democrats are going along with his strategy. If you want to stop this madness, there is only one choice: Vote for Ron Paul.
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This article has 4 comments:
- MarineCorpsVet
- 21 Comments
My Website
Dec 24 08:40 PM- out2005
- 1 Comment
Dec 24 08:51 PM- Get Real
- 1 Comment
Dec 24 09:04 PM- flow5
- 389 Comments
Dec 25 11:00 AMDuring all this time the private sector was running a surplus in all accounts: merchandise, services and financial. The Vietnam Ten-year War administered the coup d’etat to our gold bullion standard. By 1968, in an effort to keep the dollar at the $35 par, we had exhausted nearly two thirds of our monetary gold stocks, or approximately 700 million ounces to about 260 million ounces.
The dollar ceased to be freely convertible in March, 1968, institutional (central bank practices) and attitudinal lags were sufficient to offset, until late 1970, the excessive expansion in the supply of dollars. In August 1971, all convertibility was ended. This further accelerated the decline in the exchange value of the dollar. All fluctuations in exchange rates prior to this time were the result of other currencies changing in value relative to the dollar. Changes in the exchange rates were negotiated by governments, usually through the offices of the International Monetary Fund.
Since 1970, the “western” world has functioned within a system of essentially free exchanges. Before 1973, exchange rates were in terms of a “fixed target”. Now the dollar is a “sinking target”. I.e., the Pentagon was exclusively responsible for severing the U.S. dollar from gold convertibility.
Even if we eliminated the trade deficit and ran a surplus sufficient to service our foreign debt, the dollar would still decline because of the war/containment/terror... deficit. Since actions sufficient to eliminate these deficits are highly improbable, the dollar will eventually decline to a level which will eliminate them. At that level our standard of living, for this and other reasons including financing the federal debt, will be much lower than at present, and the capacity of the Pentagon to project conventional military power abroad will be severely circumscribed.
The Administration and Congress have it within their power to stop the deficits, and stop them they must. Here are some suggestions: (1) Begin a comprehensive reduction in armaments, a reduction so large it will enable our country to cut in half its outlays for the military. (2) Postpone for an indefinite period the pension “colas” for postal workers, the military, the federal civil service, and for social security recipients. Start paying out military pensions when military personnel reach the same retirement age applicable to social security recipients.
Large federal deficits cause an increase in the demand for loan funds, and because of the inflationary impact of the deficits, a decrease in the supply of loan funds. This follows from the fact that increases in the deficits will be almost entirely attributable to increases in defense spending. Defense spending adds nothing to civilian productive capacity or to the supply of goods available in the marketplace. And the magnitude of the deficits $116 billion for Iran/Iraq, ($784 billion for DOD), qualify as war economy budgets
Ordinarily an increase in demand for loan funds coming in a recession would be highly desirable, being indicative of, and a necessary adjunct to, a business recovery. But the present inncreased demands for credit are the result of the irresponsible fiscal practices of the federal government. The funds being borrowed do not increase our productive capacity, nor increase the efficiency of the work force. Rather the funds are used largely to finance transfer payments to non-productive recipients and to finance "dead-weight"... military hardware. Since the goods and services being financed by these monstrous deficits are not offered in the marketplance, enormous inflationary pressures are generated in the economy.
Our budget priorities have been misconceived. The military industrial complex, together with the growth of entitlements, cannot be sustained considering our other needs. A program for the construction of extensive light rail systems in our cities is a better investment for our country in the long run. Eliminating our dependence on foreign oil will be more labor-intensive than a continued military buildup.
Indeed, Michael Shedlock "sugar coated" it.