Science Chic wrote: Democrats and Republicans agreeing on legislation!
The Koch Brothers condemning fossil fuel use and publicly avowing to fight global warming to their last $1!
Now why would the Koch Brothers spend their last dollar on condemning fossil fuels when Al Gore won't even do it... in fact, he has helped to promote it's use and profitted from it. Just saying.
It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies and nosers−out of unorthodoxy
First off, this is not about democrats and republicans. This is about this country as a whole. I have already seen some of the impact on the military already, training cut to almost nothing. My son is getting ready to deploy again to Afghanistan, but the works they normally would do, has been cancelled. Going to the range to qualify on their weapons, has been reduced. Driving of the trucks, has been reduced to limited use only. (a lot of the newbies will not get qualified to drive the big rigs.) A lot of the change of stations orders have been put on hold. Purchasing of parts and supplies are being questioned at every level. (purchasing of parts that is great, as now they are making sure it is the right parts and not just getting stuff).
A friend of mine still on active duty in the Navy, told me getting parts to maintain gear onboard ship is in a backlog, they have to prioritize the gear for operational status and its impact on the operation of the ship. The overhaul of the USS Theodore Roosevelt which is about 4 months out of being completed is now being delayed. The refueling of the USS Abraham Lincoln CVN 72 is being delayed which will send a ripple through the rest of the fleet which is not a good thing since the USS George Washington CVN 73 would be next, but now that will be pushed back which for nuclear carriers could cause problems. ( Most carriers avg around 20 years or the middle of thier considered life span before refueling)
The cancelling of the deployment of the USS HARRY TRUMAN and its battle group to the gulf, IMO sends the wrong message to NATO and the rest of world. I am sure Iran likes it though. There are also rumors of extending the deployment months again of those deploying to both Kuwait and Afghanistan. Then to top it off, there will be mandatory reduction in force with this sequester. (I believe this should happen, but not at what will happen. Especially at the top level. Way to many generals and Colonels. US has the highest ratio of generals to soldiers. That could be reduced.)
So it is having a huge impact, but then this happens, and no it does not effect the law of the 27th amendment, but still wrong to do it.
CPO,
Don't you realize you are being played here? Sequester should have been an operation to let the military itself reduce spending. We should be saving billions with troops coming home from Afghanistan, but they chose to make it look as damaging as possible. 2 carrier groups in the Persian Gulf? Really? I can remember a couple decades ago when they debated even putting one carrier group in the Gulf because they are very vulnerable to attack there and don't have a lot of room to evade missiles
Thomas Sowell: There are no solutions, just trade-offs.
The debt, short term, is not the problem...The long-term debt is... And what's happening with the TeaPublicans is that they've been yelling 'Wolf" and "the sky is falling" so long that people are starting to find out it's not true. But I have to say they've done a fairly good job of scaring the bejeesus out of the more gullible in society. But the FACTS are sinking in, and the TeaPublicans are losing their grip and their following. The deficit as a percentage of GDP has been falling since Obama took office...And the sky is NOT falling, other than what the TeaPublicans--(who are more interested in failure as a political tool, rather than being concerned about what's best for the country)--are doing their best to foment. Going from one manufactured-crisis to the next every 60-90 days is no way to run a country and the TeaPublicans are going to pay a price for it.
And there are going to be fewer Republicans in the House, probably the Senate, and I can guarantee you that you are going to start losing state governors the next time around.
And I jus' want you to keep doin' what yer doin'...
FredHayek wrote: I can remember a couple decades ago when they debated even putting one carrier group in the Gulf because they are very vulnerable to attack there and don't have a lot of room to evade missiles
Fred, it wasn't that much more than a couple of decades ago I spent some time in that neighborhood. We took very good care of our carriers.
"
For the escorts of Battle Group Foxtrot, preparations for the 18 April 1988 Operation Praying Mantis began in the southern California operating area ten months earlier. From this first underway period as a unit, the Battle Group Commander, Rear Admiral Guy Zeller (Commander Cruiser Destroyer Group Three), had insisted on a rigorous set of exercises to prepare for the upcoming tour on station in the North Arabian Sea (NAS). Initially, the ships drilled hard at interpreting rules of engagement (ROE) and at devising means to counter small high-speed surface craft (e.g., Boghammers) and low, slow-flying aircraft—both of which abound in and around the Persian Gulf. We later added exercises stressing anti-Silkworm (an Iranian surface-to-surface missile) tactics, boarding and search, Sledgehammer (a procedure to vector attack aircraft to a surface threat), convoy escort procedures, naval gunfire support (NGFS), and mine detection and destruction exercises.
We practiced in every environment-in the Bering Sea during November, throughout our transit to the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean, and on station in the NAS. During the battle group evolution off Hawaii in January, we executed a 96-hour Persian Gulf scenario, with a three submarine threat overlaid. We conducted live, coordinated Harpoon missile firings in southern California and off Hawaii, dropped Rockeye, Skipper, and laser-guided bombs (LGBs) on high-speed targets off Point Mugu and Hawaii and drilled, drilled, drilled. By late March, each ship had completed dozens of these exercises, and we were considering easing the pace and working on ways to make the exercises more interesting, as the day approached when the Forrestal (CV-59) battle group would relieve us. Such philosophic discussions ended abruptly when the USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG-58) hit a mine on 14 April.
- See more at:
http://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedin ... 2t9qk.dpuf
Don't know why the vids did not embed. They are on you tube if you search "operation preying mantis".
The thing is...Obama and this administration wants to cause maximum pain to Americans in this to get his way. The fact that he doesn't believe the federal govt can find 1-2% waste, or things that can be delayed, etc is his way of doing so. When a family takes a pay cut, they don't tell the kids "you don't get to eat, and you have to sew your own clothes"...the parents find waste and cut it, maybe get rid of some frivolous things. They don't want to admit there is that much waste...so they make it painful for the everyday American (and our military) so we will give in and grow govt again.
Too bad future generations aren't here to see all the great things we are spending their $$ on!!
The thing is, Sequestration was supposed to work like the threat of a dose of Cod Liver Oil- such a nasty alternative that no one on either side would be willing to let it happen. Instead both sides are using it for political points. "See how awful those people are? They are letting this happen to hurt YOU! Vote against them.". No. It was and is there job to write reasonable budgets, to negotiate and compromise and to put the well being of the entire nation ahead of their selfish political interests. THEY ARE NOT DOING THIS. I blame both sides equally. Neither is blameless and neither is willing to make even a tiny concession for the good of their country. I refuse to be a pawn in their political brinkmanship by buying their pose that it is the other guys fault. When will we insist that our politicians take personal responsibility for their votes?
chickaree wrote: The thing is, Sequestration was supposed to work like the threat of a dose of Cod Liver Oil- such a nasty alternative that no one on either side would be willing to let it happen. Instead both sides are using it for political points. "See how awful those people are? They are letting this happen to hurt YOU! Vote against them.". No. It was and is there job to write reasonable budgets, to negotiate and compromise and to put the well being of the entire nation ahead of their selfish political interests. THEY ARE NOT DOING THIS. I blame both sides equally. Neither is blameless and neither is willing to make even a tiny concession for the good of their country. I refuse to be a pawn in their political brinkmanship by buying their pose that it is the other guys fault. When will we insist that our politicians take personal responsibility for their votes?
I have a modest proposal. H/T Johnathan Swift
The first of every month we randomly kill one in ten elected officials until they do their jobs. I suppose it would be almost as effective to tar and feather them instead but then we would still have to pay their benefits.
Just saying.
