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Oboma to cut more military/NASA budgets

What does this have to do this forum? Take it somewhere else. Politics don't need to be debated everywhere you turn.
 
I take it Your not an ObMama fan then Bart ?


qupgh1, for your first post that`s quite an unusual and typicallypolitical reply lol
 
Yeah, I know that this was my first post. I guess I only write when I have something worthwhile to add to the discussion. My next door neighbor is - was, a BAE emplovee until yesterday. This was not a case of outsourcing to India. It was a flat out cutting ofthe program that brought about the layoff or in their terminology RIF (reduction in force).


I myself worked for the company that was bought out by BAE, FMC Northern Ordinance. I too was Riffed due to the loss of government contracts. This stuff happens in the military-industrial complex. Yes, politics has alot to bear in these kinds of things, and I don't like what has happened to my neighbor, but we must carry on.
 
I am not that political... But half of my students work in some sort of military development. And for that I care a great deal. I like to see everyone working so they recommend others for training. Word of mouth is my key to buying more motorcycles ;)
 
I know Obama is not as easy to spell as Bush, but at least you could stive to spell OUR President's name correctly.


Engineers are supposed to be highly educated. Incorrect spelling and grammer kind of get under my skin.
smiley2.gif
 
qupgh1 said:
What does this have to do this forum? Take it somewhere else. Politics don't need to be debated everywhere you turn.
Click to expand...

Look at the title of the forum. This is the place for it. We will carry on, but we don't have to sit around like sheep.

In the 60's outlays for mandatory entitlements were around 30% of the fed budget, defense was 40%, and NASA was 5%.

Now, its 65% for entitlements, 20% for defense, & less than one half of one percent for NASA.

It's universally acknowledged that the poor & middle class are struggling with jobs, health care, & basic necessities. Its also generally acknowledged that we are less safe as nation than anytime since the Berlin wall fell. Lastly, on the current pace, we'll never get humans out of lower orbit ever again.

There's a direct connection between policy priorities and the safety, welfare, and technological progress of humanity. And right now those priorities are severely out of whack.
 
I don't understand why people think it is there obligation to correct online forum spelling mistakes. It is not like most people are going to take the time to proofread their online post.


Just get on with life and stop trying to make others look bad. It is not like engineers are english majors. Yes, sometimes they have to write papers, but those, I am sure, they spend more time on.


Back to the topic.


I think a president should be in office a little whilebeforehe just starts cutting things. That waypeople feel he likeunderstands all of the issues and is not just cutting things he does not particularly like.


Why didn't the troops get pulled out of Iraq immediately when Obama went into office like the original plan was? Don't we still need tanks to help support the troops?
 
For the first term I still got 'obama' mixed up with 'osama'. Never name your kid with an 'a' on the end.

But then again I get turkey and chicken mixed up too. And I never could spell. I did get much better at spelling as the years go on.
 
Bugzuki said:
Don't we still need tanks to help support the troops?
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[url]http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/aug/23/drones-air-force -robot-planes[/url]


It looks like the whole point is to not have troops.Apparently the BAE layoffs were because of cuts in production of ground combat vehicles with big guns and light armor. They're betting instead on UAV's to take care of whatever is over the hill and out of sight. I hope they're right. They say the military is always fighting the last war.


The interesting point is what's good for the goose (defense spending getting cut to boost efficiency) isn't good for the gander (entitlement programs like medicaid & healthcare getting trillion dollar increases to boost efficiency).
 
Apparently, not only do we engineers need spelling lessons, we also need civics lessons, too.
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The president doesn't cut programs. He may make suggestions, but Congress is the entity that cuts programs, funding, etc.
 
When every group in the government has a majority in the same party doesn't it just take one person to start an idea moving? So, the President can suggest something and all his friends jump on. Then, everyone else in the party jumps on to stay in good faith with the group.


Just a thought to throw out there. And, Nope I did not push civics that hard either. I put my effort in my degree specific courses and only took the GURs because I had to.
 
Well, everything I know about politics and business I learned from the Godfather films.

But one thing I do know is you are correct that the President proposes the budget and Congress acts on it. However in BAE's case, the Army directly terminated the program that was buying cannons from the plant in Minnesota. They acted on directions from the Defense Department which implements policy created by the President.

Any way you slice it, President Obama is responsible for these people losing their jobs.

At a time when they are spending hundreds of billions of dollars to create jobs for studying swine odor, saving swamp rats, renovating skate parks, and resurfacing every road from Scranton to Sacramento (whether it needs it or not), these people are unfortunate enough to be in the line of work that is ideologically out of favor.
 
It would appear that maybe both sides of the aisle maybe to blame for some of the porkbarrel projects. Remember, Bush & Company enjoyed a conressional majority through most of their two terms.They got usinvolved in a war that we had no business getting into, and now all of America's woes are being hung on the new administration.


I don't want to get all tree-hugging on you all, but isn't it time to start having a real meeting of the minds to try to get things going on the right track.


Maybe I'm just an idiot to think that. I'm done.
 
Sure Bush can take a lot of blame for a lot of things, but he didn't just lay off 314 workers. Sorry, but all the historic and grandiose plans we are now seeing deserve scrutiny and debate especially when peoples livelihoods are at stake.

The ironic thing is, had we not gone into Iraq, we would have never come to the conclusion that the only wars we should prepare for are counterinsurgencies which require slower defensive movements, heavier armor, and unmanned weaponry. Painful lesson, right?

War sucks, I'll be the first to admit and it's always a terrible tragedy whenever one is fought. But if there's one thing that history has taught us, it's that there will be another one. Our leaders have a moral & legal obligation to properly prepare for it.
 
My $0.02....
I don't think the president is under any obligation to continue funding defense projects that he and his military planners have deemed inappropriate, unnecessary, etc. On the stump even McCain said there were defense programs that he'd cut because they're unnecessary (I think he was referring specifically to next-gen fighter planes). We're not fighting the Cold War anymore, but looking at the new military hardware we're spending money on you wouldn't know it. It is true that military and NASA spending is a giant government stimulus program (not saying it's a bad thing) and it fosters loads of innovation for the public (Tang anyone?). But military spending is not an entitlement! If we don't need it we don't need it and I personally choose to take President Obama's word on that. Others may disagree and that's fine. Defense spending has been sacrosanct for too long and we should stop acting like any proposed cut in the $500b we spend on defense every year is a crazy liberal plot to destroy America.

Also, I'm skeptical of the statement that we're generally less safe than at any time since the Berlin Wall came down. I'm afraid statements like that need some kind of citation.
 
Maybe it's not my discussion as I'm an "outsider". But I have to agree with AdamRE.
I agree that there are a great deal of people that work in a military based Industries. But a lot more people work in education & Health care (for example), a that is where the money is most needed for the moment. I don't think that the world is gonna get out of a recession with building more weaponsand tanksand stuff.
The way the US reflects on the rest of the world is huge. And it's important to know that the US is capable of overcoming this recession. You have to know that Obama has more credit in Europe and Asia in this few months than Bush ever had in 8 years.
It's very sad for the people that lost there job, but it is for the greater good.
 
AdamRE said:
some kind of citation.
Click to expand...

There are fallacies floating around:

[url]http://hatch.senate.gov/public/_files/F22AssertionsAndFacts. pdf[/url]

"the F-15 was operational for 15 years before it was used in combat..." Sometimes we we don't know what we don't know. What we do know now is these things are being cut to clear the way for social engineering wealth redistribution programs, not because of strategic priorities. That's why we are not safe.

I'm glad the rest of the world likes us again, but, as I wrote earlier, we spend more money than ever on health & education. Even more money is not going to solve anymore problems.
 
Maybe it's true that it won't solve anymore problems.


But you will not solve anythingwith building tanks and fighter planes. The wars today are not won with big tanks etc, is a war against terrorism and and extremist.


And NASA is also very important, but we're not gonna be able to start a colony on "Mars" when there is nobody left to go. Health is nr 1 priority in the US and in thewhole world.



Edited by: miguelVR
 
Miguel my friend, it is true that Belgium doesn't need tanks & fighters. You don't have to worry about these things. However, we in the US must because it is us who are called to defend you when there is trouble, just as we've done 3 times before in the last century.
If/when Ukraine & Georgia join NATO and Russia implodes under civil decay & strife, it will be us who will have to defend them also. Then we'll be wondering why we spent all our money on an Americanized National Institute for Clinical Excellence instead of lighter & faster armaments.
 
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