Warning American citizens. Pay attention dammit. We are being given warnings through our mass media about the potentially precipitous and perilous defense cuts our President is possibly postulating.
Precipitous: Dangerously high or steep; of a change for the worse; sudden and dramatic.
Sounds like some serious shit to me. Let’s examine.
“Cuts in defense spending as part of President Barack Obama's bid to trim the $1.4 trillion U.S. budget deficit could hurt the economy or imperil security.”
That’s Marion Blakey, head of the Aerospace Industries Association, who warned House Speaker John Boehner in a letter released on Friday that precipitously cutting the defense budget could make the U.S. "fiscal and broader economic situation even worse."
“Any cuts to defense should be done in a "careful and thoughtful manner guided by our military leaders" and carried out only after the Pentagon completes its review of military force structure and capabilities, said Blakey, whose group represents hundreds of defense and aerospace companies”.
Thank you Ms. Blakey. “Only after the Pentagon”. WTF?
Ike?! Can you hear me?! Why the fuck didn’t you say it louder?! (reference to President Eisenhower’s famous 1961 speech about the Military Industrial Complex, for those that don’t know.)
Precipitously. That’s steep. Thank God most Americans don’t know what it means. Eh, shit, doesn't matter anyway.
The same story almost verbatim was on many internet news and blog sites. I don’t know if it was a late Friday news dump but it was a late Friday news dump. (July 1, 5:02PM)
http://old.news.yahoo.com/...
http://www.reuters.com/...
What he’s talking about is Obama’s proposal to cut $400 billion from the defense budget by the year 2023, a ten year plan he unveiled in a speech on April 13th as part of the $1.4 trillion dollar deficit reduction plan. We don’t know how that’s going to work out yet but it appears the public is now being conditioned to accept the status quo.
“Compared with other federal agencies, the Pentagon's share of the cuts are proportionally small. Defense accounts for more than half of the government's discretionary spending, yet would bear just 34 percent of the nearly $1.3 trillion in discretionary-spending cuts through 2023 under Obama's plan.”
Hell, it’s way worse than that when you count defense, security and intelligence. IOW Homeland Security, the VA, the whole ball of wax needed to keep the war machine rolling. Estimates are now over 1.2 trillion per year and 65% of the discretionary budget. That’s three times what is was ten years ago and the percentage has gone from approximately 40% to 65% and rising.
The message to the public is if we cut the defense budget at all we will be risking our very safety and we will lose more jobs.
Just to emphasize the point, the same day, July 1, the internet was blasted with an announcement from Lockheed Martin. Over 262 articles came up when “googling” the story.
“Lockheed Martin Corp., a company engaged in the research, design, and production of advanced technology, said today it must cut 1500 jobs in anticipation of defense spending cuts.”
http://justjobs.com/...
“Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT) said it will cut about 1,500 jobs at the Aeronautics unit in a move to curb costs and offer better priced products to customers. Added to the costs, President Barack Obama's goal of reducing defense spending by $400 million is also a burden on Lockheed Martin.”
http://www.ibtimes.com/...
The Aeronautics unit has 28,000 employees, spread out across Texas, California, and Georgia, among others. They’re talking about a reduction of a little over 5%. From ONE of their units. And a unit that was having issues anyway.
“AllHeadLineNews reports that orders for space satellites have declined. In addition, the U.S. Congress has decided to end the government’s use of F-22 Raptors in favor of the F-35, which military officials say is a more nimble and versatile fighter jet.”
So it’s really a bunch of bullshit that they’re cutting jobs because of the “possible” budget reductions over the next ten years. And it’s really a bunch of bullshit that cutting the defense budget is going to hurt our economy, not if we use the money more wisely. And it’s really, really a bunch of bullshit that cutting defense spending is going to imperil our security. I don’t want to embed another copy of “Duck and Cover”, please.
I opened my Yahoo mail page or whatever it is and the first thing I see is “Warnings sounded over precipitous defense cuts.” How many lemmings read that shit? Then they read about how we’re all going to die and lose our jobs because of a possible two percent cut in defense, security, and intelligence spending that will not happen anyway. Man, what a racket. Smedley, you should see it now brother. (google Smedley Butler if that doesn’t ring your bell).
Regardless the talk of drawing down in Afghanistan or withdrawing from Iraq, the incredible budget for the defense, security and intelligence programs of the U.S. government has surpassed $1.2 trillion dollars per year and over 65% of the entire discretionary budget for the U.S. government. The reductions being talked about are nonsense.
It’s not enough to end the “wars”. It’s time to stop the machine. As Obama said, "We need to not only eliminate waste and improve efficiency and effectiveness, but conduct a fundamental review of America’s missions, capabilities, and our role in a changing world."
That should include an honest discussion about U.S. imperialism and the quest for world supremacy through military might and the corresponding killing, devastation, and benefits to the rich elite that ensue. What we do from here on out should be up to the people, not the Pentagon.
http://october2011.org/
STOP THE MACHINE! CREATE A NEW WORLD!