Democrats Must Work for Smarter, More Efficient Government

Military industrial complex (4.00 / 1)

With a nation the size geographically and in terms of population, there are bound to be inefficiencies and some of the programs seen as redundant are actually necessary redundancies in order to maximize services to constituents.

The amount of inefficiencies pointed out by the GAO amount to tens of billions. It'd be great if that could be zeroed out and it should bbe reduced.

The real savings in inefficiencies and fraud comes from the military industrial complex. There hundreds of billions annually lost in fraud, but even more so is the amount spent on weapon systems that are not necessary. We spend more than six times the amount on the military than the second largest spender, China. We alone account for 40 percent of all military spending worldwide.

People point out that spending creates jobs. In essence people are fine with "socialism" and government spending as long as they're making pretty planes and tanks. But if they were building bridges and railway improvements and solar panels, etc., to create the same amount of jobs and make our economy stronger it would be seen by many as wrong.

When a man embarks upon a crime, he is morally guilty of any other crime which may spring from it. Sherlock Holmes.

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by: Carnacki @ Wed Mar 02, 2011 at 14:18:41 PM UTC

The waste of war spending (4.00 / 1)

During the Vietnam war, I had a long-running discussion with my father, who was pretty liberal and who was probably playing devil's advocate, over this issue.  He never convinced me, but I sure learned to think about the counter-arguments.

Sadly, I think Manchin's stance isn't anti-war, but anti-Obama. If Obama pulled the troops put of Afghanistan, Manchin would be talking about wasting the sacrifices our troops had made and abandoning a potential democracy to the Taliban.

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by: JAWVMM @ Thu Mar 03, 2011 at 13:43:03 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

completely agree (4.00 / 1)

The military is notorious for being the least efficient and most wasteful bureaucracy in government.  There are also tons of loopholes in our tax code that allow the super wealthy to skirt paying their fair share.  

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by: Jeremiah @ Thu Mar 03, 2011 at 02:10:45 AM UTC

Agree (4.00 / 1)

Military most wasteful. Contractors ripping us off.

The problem now is when we cut we tend to cut like inspectors and programs that protect people. Then when people are hurt it makes it look like gov't isn't working.

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by: Hollowdweller @ Mon Mar 07, 2011 at 19:10:16 PM UTC