Uh-oh.... Who pissed off the VFW?

Unfortunately the VFW has yet to learn how to embed links to shit, so I have no clue what they are talking about, but this is some of the strongest language I've seen in their call to actions. SOMEONE has pissed them off.

Shoulder the debt? How can this be? Surely they can't be expected to actually pay down any significant portion of it.

Ahhh. We're playing weasely bullshit bingo, because "shoulder the debt" sounds more outrageous than "cut benefits."

Never mind. Carry on.

If this is true, it would be pretty fucked-up. Most of these benefits apply to me or to my son who may be joining the military pending wrapping up some legal obstacles.

Okay, countdown to the usual suspects saying we are already overpaid, overpampered baby-killers/oppressors of brown people the world over.

?

Way to acknowledge your allies...

Yes, let me clarify. We shouldered 90 percent of the two wars. Better now?

and who started them anyways?

Regardless of who started them.....they are America's vets. We as a nation felt we need(ed) X amount of vets, then we need to carry through with whatever benefits package under which they enlisted.

I should clarify as well then.

I totally agree that once more, America's government is fucking over those who have served.

But that first sentence is a major part of why the US has developed such a shit rep around the world. You plunge us all into this thing, yet don't acknowledge that others have made the same sacrifices.

The numbers show 1 530 Americans and 154 Canadians have died in Afganistan. Pretty much equal as a population percentage.

Simma dahn nagh!

This was a news release by an American veterans association, about the American budget, the statement should be read in that context (ie, of the American population, the all volunteer military, etc. etc.).

You're reading WAY too much into it.

Why the hell do they always go straight to fucking people over?

There are thousands of redundant positions and committees to get rid of, massive waste in the form of pork...art, unnecessary buildings in stupid places, political expense accounts that get abused, the government never questions the billings that make no sense...$90 per screw for example...they just pay.

Here's an example from here in Maine:



No, that isn't a fucked up lot that needs cleaning....well, it is but in this case $135,000 in taxpayer money + thousands more in "upkeep" was spent for this "art".

They finally wised up that it's an eyesore and auctioned it...the only bidder got it for $100.

Shit like this is happening all over the US and if it was put a stop to, there wouldn't be a debt problem.

One thing though...why is there seperate DOD elementary schools? What is the reasoning for that "benefit"??

Art? What, did it fall over and has been left so long that the Earth has swallowed most of it up?

What did it look like before?

No..that is what it's supposed to look like.

Is it supposed to look like the sea?

This.

In my town, some of the Porkulus money which was spent went to the expansion of a public park in the middle of downtown - a park which no one ever uses. Not only was it a very expensive "beautification", for no practical reason, it ate up 30 parking spaces for the office building which housed the post office, the tax office, and several other public service outlets, forcing people to have to park several blocks from the building.

The real clincher? The contract to do the work was awarded to the architecture and landscaping company owned by the husband of our Congresswoman.

Those schools are generally "on post" which saves time + money transporting the kids. In the long run everyone saves.

Also these schools are for when we are stationed overseas - the kids can't go to a school off-post in that situation.

They have civilian teachers, so they are no different than any other school.

If that was the stuff that got cut, you wouldn't see me complain one bit. Cutting social security and medicare on the other hand when all this shit can be cut first, I don't think so.

It all has to be cut. That is the reality everyone is refusing to face. The gravy train just derailed into the fucking grand canyon.

Man, you mention cutting the NEA before the military or NASA to some of my liberal friends, you'll get a hot latte up your ass.

Everything doesn't have to be cut.....just the fat driving it.

In other words, find out how we can deliver the goods in a more efficient manner. From my angle, let's take medical care for vets. If there's a way to have less staff working in non-essential positions at the post hospital, eliminate those positions. Do it by attrition when you can, so nobody currently working loses a job. It doesn't have to be all-or-nothing. That leads to an epic backfire.

You really need disinterested parties researching how things are done, and how to improve them. The gub'mint can't police themselves - that's the fox guarding the chicken coop.

But if something has zero worth...then yes, cut it.

So who's going to hire and pay for these "disinterested parties"?

I don't trust a lobbying group, even my own, to give it to me straight. Which is why I posted this thread to try and find out what plan they are talking about.

Does no one here know either?

Fat (n.): Government spending that benefits someone other than me.

I don't give a fuck.

Artists should be good enough to sell on their own and make a living at it or get real and admit what they have is a hobby.

Government should be concerned with defense...not art.

There are so many areas that could be eliminated before you get anywhere near social security or medicare. The fact they won't touch their pork and prefer to threaten old people is dispicable.

Speaking of local eyesores that sold for nothing, remember "the bird man"?

Ugly fucking thing that looked like a giant stillborn baby chick with a giant hole in its gut done in plaster?

Saw it in the paper in the 90's, then it was in this guy's lawn along the back road that takes you out to the mall from Westbrook.

A vandal smashed the head off, and he kept it there.
So ugly, birds wouldn't even shit on it.

Took 20 years for it to disintegrate.

Breathed a sigh of relief when it was gone.

Fucking elementary school kid coulda done better.

Gah.

So wait, how does this work?

Cuts to Social Security, a self paying and one of the most successful government programs ever = good!!!!!.......but cuts to Veteran Benefits, something which, as the article states, is from a volunteer activity = bad?!?

I think personally we should honor benefits that we have agreed to, whether SS or Veterans'. However, we know that looting that last bit of money left in Social Security is the real goal of both parties (all of course with the disguise of "debt reduction" and "jobs recovery" or some bullshit). We've even seen it here on Wordforge where people call for reductions in Social Security...

So why isn't what's good for one, not good for the other? Why the contradiction? Is it something other than the fact that some folks here have a personal interest in maintaining Veterans' Benefits?

If it's not listed in the constitution, cut it. Veteran's benefits for future generations of soldiers can be cut right now, up front, and I'll have no problem with it. But if someone has served their end of the contract they should get the benefits listed in that contract. If the benefits are somehow non-contractual extras that Vets have just picked up along the way, cut them.

Cut all Welfare.
Cut the military budget in half.
Cut Medicare and Social Security in half.
Legalize all drugs and pardon all drug related criminal offenses (not including robberies and violent crimes done to get drugs), I just mean dealing and using.
Cut it all.

Enact term limits on house and senate members next and maybe we can keep this thing above water. I'm just preaching to the choir here though. I'm about ready to jump ship. Maybe it's time to go leach off of some nice western european country's social safety net for a while.

Have you checked out Montreal and Vancouver? Great cities, and much closer.

Being military, I can honestly say you could cut the budget in half and not compromise their effectiveness one bit. Every single member can see where the waste is, but nobody can do shit because "that's the way the system works." Amazing we are held captive by an unseen, unstoppable force like that - greater even that God it seems.

Cuts!

Yeah, cut everything and fuck the consequences!