Personal Finance Disclosures Reveal Leading F-22 Defender Phil Gingrey Owns Boeing Stock
Personal Finance Disclosures Reveal Leading F-22 Defender Phil Gingrey Owns Boeing Stock
Last week, Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA) and VoteVets Chairman Jon Soltz sparred on MSNBC about reinstating funds for new F-22s. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has called for capping production of the F-22 Raptor, a fighter that has never seen combat in the Iraq or Afghanistan theaters. Despite the fact that the OMB recommended a veto if the defense authorization budget contains new F-22s, members of Congress in the House Armed Services committee, lead by Gingrey, slipped the funding in anyways. In his debate with Gingrey, Soltz said:
The Congressman cares about the Lockheed Martin stock price, and I care about the men and women who fight on the group. And this weapon system does nothing for us.
Watch it:
Indeed, Gingrey’s 2008 personal finance disclosure reveals that the Congressman owned between $50,000 to $100,000 in Boeing stock, a company that joined with Lockheed to manufacture the F-22. Gingrey’s latest personal finance disclosure report, filed late this year and posted online this week, shows he still owns Boeing stock, but it has dropped in value to $15,000 to $50,000. Because Lockheed Martin is Boeing’s partner in building the F-22, Gingrey does have an actual incentive to see an additional $369 million in unnecessary spending for new F-22s.
Topic Cloud
ArchivesBlog Roll
Oopsie…
Time to rev up the gay, God and guns stuff…
July 3rd, 2009 at 12:32 pmKeep building F-22 fighters vs health care,jobs,Wall Street reform I can`t imagine why any re-puke would want more fighters that haven`t seen any action in our two war zones,can you.You just have yo love the Republiscum Channel and all of it`s hypocrisy.
July 3rd, 2009 at 12:42 pmIt’s just more proof that all of our politicians are bought and paid for by the corporations who feed on the American tax payer.
July 3rd, 2009 at 12:44 pmThis is a fatally flawed weapons system, + it’s designed to fight an enemy which has not existed for nearly 20 years.
Scrap it!
It’s only purpose is making profits for the “defense” industry.
WAR IS A RACKET!
July 3rd, 2009 at 12:44 pmA perfect example of what Noam Chomsky said in a speech broadcast on today’s Democracy Now! about how policy makers will always make sure their interests are protected.
July 3rd, 2009 at 12:45 pmA politician being swayed by ulterior motives…shocking!!!
July 3rd, 2009 at 12:46 pmALL of the big advocates for military spending of any type are connected directly or indirectly with the military industrial complex (Boeing is a component).
The amounts of money currently being spent cannot be honestly adjusted for by any objective observer, which is why BILLIONS AND BILLIONS OF DOLLARS cannot actually even be accounted for!
Nice catch, but this is par for the course. The bigger problem is that, because of direct and indirect connections between the military-industrial complex and global media corporations, the advocates for spending we see on TV are NEVER impartial, objective observers.
And the notion of “fiscal conservatives” has always been a cover for massive looting of the fiscal treasury by connected insider, even back when the republican party were known as whigs.
July 3rd, 2009 at 12:48 pmNo. I think we could save money by cutting defense and the F-22 could be one of those cuts.
But, the congressman is defending it to get rich from his investment in Boeing?
Come on. The connection is that the plane is made by Lockheed which is a partner of Boeing? And the congressmen owns 1,000 shares of Boeing? Any move in Lockheed would have minimal impact on the Boeing shares and any move in Boeing would be chump change spread over a thousand shares.
Here’s a hint: Lockheed has a heavy presence in Georgia. The congressman is trying to protect the jobs of his constituents (or the jobs of other Georgians. (or, if you’re more cynical, a relationship he has with Lockheed).
But, chalking it up to his personal interest in his Boeing shares is ridiculous.
July 3rd, 2009 at 12:49 pmSpot on, ho – it is used to rally the masses and bleed the public coffers, enriching the select few that directly/indirectly own the companies that supply the military.
It is nothing more, nothing less than socialism for corporations and the wealthy.
It is the perfect scam because they can always manufacture a new “enemy” and justify unlimited expenditures.
Best of all, the fear and propaganda that is used to whip up and maintain public support allows them to slander anyone that questions military spending as “un-American”, un-patriotic, and “against us” instead of “for us.”
July 3rd, 2009 at 12:51 pmAgain, I would favor programs like this to be cut. To save money.
But, the argument that we haven’t needed air to air since the first Gulf War isn’t that strong.
The objection to that tact arises all the time, when people make the point that we are always planning to fight the last war.
July 3rd, 2009 at 12:53 pmJoe. you got that right. I agree with your post at #9.
July 3rd, 2009 at 12:56 pmAnd at the height of hypocracy – the man dur chimpfurher put in charge of “smoking out” bin laden is now rooting for him to attack again!
Just goes to show you what a charade the perpetual war on terror is. Fact is – in the middle east, they acknowledge that he is dead and has been for several years.
Fact is – 9/11 was an inside job. The bush family learned well from their nazi connections and dur chimpfurher was given his own Reichstagg false-flag operation to cover the stolen election of 2000 and rally folks around the dismantling of our constitution in the name of national security.
July 3rd, 2009 at 12:57 pmA politician with a conflict of interest? I am shocked and appalled.
July 3rd, 2009 at 12:59 pmNow I realize that George Bush was an incarnation of Pandora’s Box. The greed, death and destruction from his rotten-as-hell presidency is a curse that keeps giving.
July 3rd, 2009 at 1:01 pmTorture is a prosecutorial war crime under US domestic laws
The Convention Against Torture(CAT) and the 1996 War Crimes Act. It is also a prosecutorial war crime under the Nuremberg & Tokyo Protocols written by the United States of America after WWII. It is a prosecutorial war crime under the Geneva Conventions General Article III of 1949. And all it takes to be charged, convicted and imprisoned-or hanged, is for anyone who is convicted in a court of law for violating any one of these laws. And it only takes the commission of ONE single offense for the wheels of justice to roll over the offenders. Not 100. Not 180. Just one. But we have seen our new President and his Democratically-controlled 111th Congress move heaven and earth to protect the Bush-Cheney war criminal cabal from the long arm of justice. More under the fold…
While we focus attention on gingrey, let’s not give obama a free pass for using the immense power of his office to obfuscate, obstruct, stonewall, and otherwise cover-up and hide the evidence of their war crimes, thus denying the justice that they sorely deserve in the worst way.
July 3rd, 2009 at 1:01 pmIt’s not just the military industrial complex. It’s the dynamic between all corporations (and their lobbying efforts) and our political system.
I watched this guy on C-SPAN last night:
http://www.c-spanarchives.org/library/index.php?main_page=product_video_info&products_id=287079-1
He makes the point that he used to think the problem was the politicians. But, in reality the politicians are just replaceable pawns.
The real drivers are corporations thru their lobbying efforts.
Unless we change that dynamic, nothing will change.
What we have now is neither capitalism or socialism. It is corporate lobbying dollars formulating policy.
Policy that ignores everything but the interests of the corporations.
July 3rd, 2009 at 1:06 pmb-cup,
And who do the corporate lobbyists influence with their lobbying? POLITICIANS!
You can’t make Gingrey innocent, no matter how wide-eyed and innocently you look at it. It’s just not going to happen.
July 3rd, 2009 at 1:14 pmThe only way to stop these sort of things is to ban outright all gifts, services, etc., to the government employees and politicians and their families. Campaign contributions should be limited to only people who can vote which means no more pacs. There should be a dollar limit $1,500 for all contributions in any year. These would end all the artifices used to get around campaign contributions and lobbying.
July 3rd, 2009 at 1:14 pmOHHHH – Now we see where the money is really going. Figures greedy Gingrey has a vested interest in continuing F-22 production.
All this talk about wasteful spending from the biggest hypocrites on earth! Godless, greedy, freacking, capitalistic conservatives are the absolute worst people.
July 3rd, 2009 at 1:18 pmbackup – another way to look at what you said is that, as the military-industrial complex generates more wealth, it needs to acquire additional assets to store that wealth and put it to work.
It isn’t the dynamics of all corporations coming together – it is the strategic conglomeration of corporate assess by the military-industrial complex.
There is a huge difference here – denying the reach and scope of the “war machine” is not helpful.
Said military-industrial complex now directly and indirectly owns most of the mainstream media and any number of other corporate interests that fit their interests/agenda.
Perhaps this is just semantics (which intelligent people don’t argue about, right), but to proclaim it “is neither capitalism or socialism” denies the fact that the collective wealth of the people is actually what enables the owners of the military industrial complex to prosper and grow.
Perhaps it is best called fascism, where corporations and governments merge, but the salient feature is this – the profits of the military-industrial complex (and all subgroups like oil, media, airplane manufactures) are subsidized and guaranteed by the masses for the benefits of a few and all risks and external costs are dumped back onto the collective masses.
July 3rd, 2009 at 1:18 pmIs anyone really naive enough to think that gingrey’s only interests in boeing are the stocks on this disclosure form?
July 3rd, 2009 at 1:19 pmhttp://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=LMT#chart10:symbol=lmt;range=3m;compare=ba;indicator=volume;charttype=line;crosshair=on;ohlcvalues=0;logscale=on;source=undefined
Here’s a comparison of a 3 month chart of Boeing overlaid with Lockheed. It the companies were that tied, wouldn’t the moves be more tandem?
July 3rd, 2009 at 1:20 pmI grew up with the Strategic Air Command, the DEW line, the NORAD base inside Challenger Mountain, Nike missile bases, and the B52’s, B58’s, the F104 Starfighters, And the three-triangle sign of Civil Defense shelters.
We spent trillions of dollars on air defense over the decades, employed millions of men and armadas of planes–all to keep America safe from attack from the air.
And when it finally happened, none of it did the least bit of good.
There are a lot of issues and questions arising from that day–but one thing is clear: the fastest, stealthiest, coolest planes in the world and the most sophisticated command network in the world won’t be effective at a job they weren’t designed to do.
The F-22, the Seawolf class submarines–do they keep us safe? And after 9/11, have we oriented our defense resources to counter the actual attacks we’ve suffered?
No and no.
Solve the actual problems that confront us, as opposed to making up problems and solving them instead.
July 3rd, 2009 at 1:21 pmbackup – anything released for public consumption has been heavily massaged and presents whatever picture suits the purpose of the companies that produced it.
You link means nothing because if you ask an accountant what 2+2 equals, they will say, “what do you want it to equal?”
July 3rd, 2009 at 1:22 pmZooey. It’s not about Gingrey being innocent. It’s that his decisions (like most other politicians) are driven by corporate lobbyist money. If you replace Gingrey (or any other politician) you’ll only get another politician influenced by the same money.
I’m suggesting this: Maybe we spend a lot of time scrutinizing politicians, when the real culprits obstructing reasonable governance, are the lobbyists.
July 3rd, 2009 at 1:23 pmpbeeg – nothing will keep us safe from false flag attacks because those in a position to pull them off understand how to exploit whatever system of defense is in place.
And no matter how implaudible, the mainstream media can be counted on to “catapult the propaganda” – something we have repeatedly seen throughout the last 8 years.
If you still believe the official lies of 9/11, I am sure nothing posted here will change your mind, including the fact that thermite residue was found at the site.
But don’t take my work for it – let the people that actually design and build these types of buildings explain.
July 3rd, 2009 at 1:26 pmIn a complex and well-coordinated heist, combining speed and stealth with an uncanny knowledge of automobile security systems, four tots hotwired a Toyota Land Rover and cruised along fabled Deco Drive in South Beach Miami. The merry group spent the evening crashing top night spots and easily eluding waitresses, bartenders and bouncers. Credit card receipts, obviously signed by one of the tots, showed thousands in charges for table dances, champagne and limo service. A crayon drawing left by one of the tots lent conclusive proof of their guilt, according to local law enforcement officials.
A trio of nuns broke into a North Dakota missile site in a complex and well-coordinated heist, combining speed and stealth with an uncanny knowledge of USAF security systems. The nuns quickly removed the nuclear warhead in 20 minutes from the ICBM using a crescent wrench, car jack and plastic crucifix. A nun’s habit and Gideon Bible, inscribed with the name of one of the nuns, providently found at the crime scene, indicated conclusive proof of their guilt and the trio was quickly captured.
A pair of elderly pensioners swiped two Abrams M1A1 tanks yesterday and crashed them into the Virginia state capitol after driving them 150 miles undetected. In a complex and well-coordinated heist, combining speed and stealth with an uncanny knowledge of US Army security systems, the senior citizens swiped the tanks from a National Guard armory. After crashing the tanks into the office building, the pair fled on foot, eluding hundreds of lawmen. But a dog-eared copy of National Geographic magazine, found at the crime scene addressed to one of the octogenarians, lead to the speedy arrest and confinement of the pair.
July 3rd, 2009 at 1:27 pmAnother Joe. I’m not dismissing the importance of the Military Industrial Complex.
I’m suggesting that the problem is even more pervasive.
July 3rd, 2009 at 1:29 pmbackup Says:
I’m suggesting this: Maybe we spend a lot of time scrutinizing politicians, when the real culprits obstructing reasonable governance, are the lobbyists.
July 3rd, 2009 at 1:23 pm
I’m not going to go around in circles with you, b-cup. I just countered that very argument.
We KNOW what lobbyists are about, they are interest groups (in need of regulation, but that’s another thread).
Politicians are sent to Washington to represent a different interest group — their constituents. If the politician falls for the monetary lure of the lobbyists, forgetting or neglecting the interests of his constituents in favor of his/her own, the fault lies with that politician — thus incurring the much-needed scrutiny.
July 3rd, 2009 at 1:29 pmAnd all I am saying it – YES IT IS PERVASIVE, but it is still all about the MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX
July 3rd, 2009 at 1:31 pmThe thing that kills me is this. I work for local City/County Government. By Law I must disclose any and all relationships I may have with anyone or anything that has or may have a connection with ANY aspect of relationships to the City/County.
We also, from the Local to the State level, cannot run a deficet budget.
Why is it the Feds get a free pass?
July 3rd, 2009 at 1:31 pmSix autistic kids, ranging in age from 12 to 19, broke into Fort Knox yesterday and looted billions in gold from the vaults in a daring daylight raid. The complex, well-coordinated heist, combining speed and stealth with an uncanny knowledge of the vault’s security system, allowed the kids easy entry. Video cameras, however, caught the six laughing and joking while entering the open vaults. Unfortunately for the plotters, an inscribed trophy from the 2001 Special Olympics, along with a group photograph of the six, was found at the crime site, foiling the perfect crime.
In a complex and well-coordinated heist, combining speed and stealth with an uncanny knowledge of nuclear submarine security systems, two teenage lovers who called themselves Romeo and Juliet, stole a Trident submarine yesterday and enjoyed a brief joyride before sinking the sub in a suicide pact in 10,000 feet of water. Although no bodies were recovered, a water-soaked library card found floating on the Pacific Ocean , belonging to Roy Meoli, age 17, confirmed to law enforcement officials that the troubled teenage boy was the sole mastermind of the daring heist.
A quintet of teenage girls swiped the space shuttle from its Florida launch pad and buzzed Disneyworld in Orlando yesterday afternoon. In a complex and well-coordinated heist, combining speed and stealth with an uncanny knowledge of the shuttle security system, the girls commandeered the aging spacecraft. Swooping low, they performed several complex aerobatics, then sped skyward. Flying above Seaworld, they paused to write the cell phone number of one of their boyfriends in bold, three hundred-foot letters in the sky. Local police traced the cell phone number and quickly apprehended the juveniles later at a slumber party, before charging them with the crime.
July 3rd, 2009 at 1:32 pmWait… Did I miss something? When did Another Joe stop trolling?
He’s quickly becoming one of my favorite posters.
Ok, carry on. Great discussion.
July 3rd, 2009 at 1:34 pmnever trolled – sometimes this place is like atrios, long threads where everyone proclaims the post ahead of them is a troll.
LOL!
July 3rd, 2009 at 1:35 pmThe GOP is joined at the hip with corporate America. It is true that there are some democrats who are just as sleazy but the GOP is by far the most connected. All their policies are to destroy government and take from the common citizen to give to the greedy, corrupt, corporate world that owns them. Wingnuts prove me wrong. Naming democrats does not prove me wrong. I said there are some democrats. Prove that all GOP policies are not for the benefit of corporate thieves.
July 3rd, 2009 at 1:35 pmI think I missed something too.
July 3rd, 2009 at 1:36 pmWhat is that @33 AJ?
Several Saudi high school seniors commandeered the aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower yesterday in a complex and well-coordinated heist, combining speed and stealth with an uncanny knowledge of Navy security systems. The teens sailed the ship across the Pacific undetected and then down to Acapulco for a weekend of binge drinking, while picking up girls along the way. Navy officials had no prior knowledge of the plan to hijack the missing aircraft carrier, nor even knew it was missing. But officials found a charred credit card belonging to one of the thieves on the flight deck of the carrier proving, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the hijackers guilt.
A quartet of quadriplegics borrowed the SS Queen Mary yesterday and sailed the ship to San Diego in an elaborate navigational feat. The foursome commandeered the former luxury liner, usually berthed at Long Beach California , after attending a weeklong course in sailing. An instructor at Bob Bligh’s Sailing School said the handicapped hijackers failed the rudiments of sailing and navigation and nearly wrecked a rowboat. However, law enforcement officials quickly said that failure didn’t necessarily mean that four handicapped men, confined to wheelchairs, couldn’t have piloted a 1000 foot luxury liner usually requiring dozens of officers and hundreds of trained crewmen. As if to confirm this likely explanation, an FBI spokesman said investigators found promotional videotapes from Carnival Cruise Lines, a copy of the movie Titanic, and a Blockbuster membership card belonging to one of the men in the wheelhouse of the Queen Mary, confirming the obvious guilt of the four.
Nineteen flight school dropouts, in a complex and well-coordinated heist combining speed and stealth with an uncanny knowledge of our nation’s security systems, commandeered four jumbo jets and flew hundreds of miles before returning to crash the planes into pre-selected targets. A flight school instructor said the men performed badly in the simplest of flight maneuvers in small Cessna airplanes. But local law enforcement officials quickly claimed the 19 hijackers could easily have performed complex maneuvers in much larger and more complex Boeing jumbo jets. Video cameras captured the ringleaders laughing and joking and a charred passport, found at the scene of the crash indicated, beyond any reasonable doubt, the guilt of the men.
July 3rd, 2009 at 1:36 pmI’m SHOCKED, SHOCKED I tell you, to find that gambling is going on in Casablanca!
July 3rd, 2009 at 1:36 pmTho some of that last stuff is pretty silly. I’m chuckling.
July 3rd, 2009 at 1:37 pmThe F-22 is part of the new health care program…they make some people feel really good at air shows. These “natural highs” should be taken seriously as they come free once the F-22 program is paid for. Anything free from the government this day and age is a rarity unless of course you are the chairperson of a committee in the ruling party then its pretty much party all the time but we don’t care about that here they work hard and I’m sure its well deserved.
July 3rd, 2009 at 1:38 pmUhOh SlappyBasterd is off its meds again
July 3rd, 2009 at 1:40 pmOkay. Democrats will point to Republicans being swayed by the money to get them replaced and Republicans will point to Democrats in turn.
We’ll churn the politicians, while the money continues to corrupt the system.
July 3rd, 2009 at 1:42 pmAnother Joe has become and plagiarizing copy & paste troll.
Interesting evolution…
July 3rd, 2009 at 1:43 pmIts a holiday weekend, enjoy
Point is, when we should have been receiving a “peace dividend”, the military industrial complex found an ingenious way to recast the “home security” narrative into a framework that now justifies UNLIMITED expenditures, often with NO ACCOUNTABILITY, and provides politicians with cover – enabling them to proclaim you are “for us or against us”!
Boeing, and the folks that do their bidding, are just trying to hold on to their piece of the pie. Yes, discussing the merits of the f-2 is important. But more so is a critical look at why we spend this type of money, what we get for each dollar spent, and in who’s pocket does the profits go.
Please remember, these are the same folks that say we cannot afford health care reform.
July 3rd, 2009 at 1:45 pmbackup Says:
Okay. Democrats will point to Republicans being swayed by the money to get them replaced and Republicans will point to Democrats in turn.
We’ll churn the politicians, while the money continues to corrupt the system.
July 3rd, 2009 at 1:42 pm
Right. Go ahead and believe in your tiny brain that as long as the Dems are doing it, it’s A-okay. **eyes rolling**
Why do you bother posting here, if you think we’re such idiots? Didn’t you say a long time ago that you were here to learn? Surely you could find another blog more suited to your massive “intellect?”
July 3rd, 2009 at 1:46 pmAnd don’t forget the way the false-flag attack on 9/11 was used to undermine the U.S Constitution (happy 4th of july everyone) as well as justify military expenditures covering just about anything a creative mind can imagine – including private contractors that “support our troops” by serving the toilet water! (no sh@t, sherlock, that last one is true!)
It is unfortunate if progressives/liberals allow this to become a “debate” over any specific weapon system and/or program and accept the basic premises that underlie the outrageous expenditures in the first place.
But to each his own… Just don’t kid yourself that we resolve any of this issues whether this plane is built or not.
July 3rd, 2009 at 1:51 pmThe protection racket has always been lucrative, hasn’t it? Pay me or “something might happen to your business” — The ‘only an attack by Osama can save us now” means “can save the shakedown racket” that the defense industry and its Republican Congressional enablers are in…
Do we need some RICO prosecutions here?
July 3rd, 2009 at 2:02 pmAnd this weapon system does nothing for us.
That’s not true. UFO sitings are way up. I think the Martians are planning an attack, and we have to be ready.
July 3rd, 2009 at 2:05 pmI have it on good authority (top secret military family member) that the F-22 platform will be put to greater use as the war in Afghanistan is ramped up. With 10’s of thousands of soldiers moving westward out of Iraq into the new war zone just created to fight the Tellabunny guys stealth can be of great help. We, of course, wish our soldiers well in the hunt and termination of the enemys of the state. The more lethal the equipment the US military has the fewer enemy combatants will have to spend time (no more Gitmo) in the new and improved torture chambers of our allies.
July 3rd, 2009 at 2:06 pmI bet there is not a single democrat that holds stock in Boeing. Not even Cantwell, Murray or any other democrat from Washington State.
July 3rd, 2009 at 2:10 pmWe already have a large amount of laws governing lobbying and campaign contributions. They have not been effective because someone is always looking for a way around the law. These laws should be repealed and a simple outright ban on all lobbying and severe limitations on campaign contributions along the line I have already suggested. No exceptions. Then make it a felony to violate the laws. But this would require the political will to do these things. Politicians will never pass these laws because it is not in their best interests. This can only be done by a lot of people putting pressure on Congress under the threat of defeat at the polls if they obstruct these laws.
July 3rd, 2009 at 2:12 pmIf the markets for military goods and services are going to function efficiently, then buyers and sellers need to be able to find the optimal price based in their unfettered interactions. The resulting equilibrium price is in the best interest of all parties and society as a hole. We must calculate into these costs the money that goes to politicians that make it happen, “greasing the wheel”.
In order for military markets to work, there must be incentives for the buyers and sellers that increase the utility and value of the transaction. This is especially true for the SELLERS and their PROPONENTS. If we do not make war in their economic best interest, rational firms will not choose to go to war.
Market forces require that personal payments are made and that politicians be paid off. This enhances the public good by enabling the markets to function efficiently and allow us to start wars. Because military-industrial suppliers are competing for scarce federal resources, there needs to be a mechanism to enhance the value of military contracts.
This saves money for the consumers of war. It allows goods and the services of a man, woman or child to be purchased at the going market rate and offered to a military contractor or government official, increasing the value exponentially. In effect, this “leverages” the public’s investment in the “war machine”.
The military-industrial complex, of which the oil, media, and airlines industries are vital segments, plays an important role in our economy. We cannot possibly enjoy the benefits of war and “support our troops” without making conflict an extremely lucrative endeavor for both the supply and demand side of the equation. This is how war markets are supposed to work.
How can we deny our politicians their God given rights, duties, and responsibility to allow adam smith’s “invisible hand” to kill people of color in the most economically efficient manner and to make money hands-over-fists for doing it.
July 3rd, 2009 at 2:12 pmThat’s ridiculous. You don’t need a goddamn invisible spacecraft to fight a few cavemen.
July 3rd, 2009 at 2:13 pmWhy do you love corrupt Republicans who steal your tax dollars?
July 3rd, 2009 at 2:15 pmLoved the ….. I keep a 44 magnum under my pillow for protection for 30 years part. Maybe it’s to protect himself from investigators looking into his obvious conflict of interest voting .
July 3rd, 2009 at 2:22 pmHe protects his property at gun point while the NSA taps our telephones and the president contemplates an executive order to arrest without charges and hold enemies of the state indefinitely .
Is this a good time to bring up the fact that the Bushes have made massive profits through the Carlyle group in both wars ?
July 3rd, 2009 at 2:26 pmhttp://www.hereinreality.com/carlyle.html
BOMBS AWAY !
For the 2009 fiscal year, the base budget rose to $515.4 billion. Adding emergency discretionary spending and supplemental spending brings the sum to $651.2 billion.
This does not include many military-related items that are outside of the Defense Department budget, such as nuclear weapons research, maintenance and production (about $9.3 billion, which is in the Department of Energy budget), Veterans Affairs (about $33.2 billion), interest on debt incurred in past wars, or the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (which are largely funded through extra-budgetary supplements, about $170 billion in 2007). As of 2009, the United States government is spending about $1 trillion annually on defense-related purposes.
Focusing on approximately 1/3 of one 1/10% of that trillion dollars is not really an intelligent dialog. Unfortunately, “million” and “billion” are a tiny words for an INCREDIBLY HUGE number. People haven’t a clue what a “billion” actually means.
Today (01/25/05 at 14:24 GMT (EST+5) World POPClock (http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/popclockworld.html) projects that there are 6,768,167,712 people in the world. Just over 6.75 billion humans on the face of the earth!
Do the math — this trillion billion-dollar request represent more than $147 for each human on the face of the earth!!!
I could not easily find other comparisons to “frame” the concept of “billion” in terms that people might be able to comprehend — it is just too large a number to find many meaningful comparisons. How can we get this message across?
*It would take someone who makes $50K per year 20,000 years to make $1 billion dollars. That’s 425 working lifetimes (47 years apiece).
*Million: It will take you about 12 days to count a million seconds. Billion: It will take you about 31 years to count a billion seconds.
July 3rd, 2009 at 2:26 pmWhat???? Another corrupt Repuke selling Americans down the river for profit???
Shocker.
Not.
July 3rd, 2009 at 2:27 pmfigure is from 7/1/09
July 3rd, 2009 at 2:27 pm“a fighter that has never seen combat in the Iraq or Afghanistan theaters”
Are those the only theatres that the U.S. operates in? We have potential conflicts in many places. I’m not a hawk. Just asking.
July 3rd, 2009 at 2:28 pmMeanwhile, in related news, dur chimpfurher’s lying liar, colon powell expresses concerns over obama’s packed agenda.
Colorful powerpoint presentation and 8 1/2 x 10 glossy photos to follow…
July 3rd, 2009 at 2:31 pmMay these weapons rust in peace .
July 3rd, 2009 at 2:31 pmWe are still such Neanderthals spiritually .
zenster666 – to meet the profit targets of the military-industrial complex, the US needs to be able to invade each and every corner of the earth several-times over with an endless array of “old school” technology AND “new and improved” gadgets.
July 3rd, 2009 at 2:33 pmfreeman – nonsense, and the human species as we know it wiped those folks off the face of the world a long LONG time ago to prove it!
July 3rd, 2009 at 2:34 pmI’d rather invest taxpayer money on fuel efficient cars, to feed the poor and homeless, to rebuild our roads and highways, to make health care affordable for everyone, and to pay for more federal regulators/watchdogs to protect America from greedy Wall Street bankers and evil corporations.
July 3rd, 2009 at 2:36 pmLove over money !
July 3rd, 2009 at 2:37 pmSo much suffering here and abroad could be vanquished by compassion and little heart . But where’s the profit in that ?
delafield – sorry, but your colon has just proclaimed, “NO!”
July 3rd, 2009 at 2:38 pmfreeman, according to repugs and the folks that promote the fantasies of adam smith, if there are no economic profits to be made, then it is not in the public’s best interest.
It’s a b|tch when the “invisible hand” that guides our economy slaps you in the face, isn’t it.
July 3rd, 2009 at 2:40 pmOh my! This is spirited.
If the Rep is dirty? Discussion over.
On the issue of the extra $369 million? That depends. I still haven’t seen exactly what it’s for. (If anyone knows please post a link!)
That amount would result in about three additional airframes. If that’s the reason? It sounds silly to me.
On the other hand, that money may be to complete the construction of many airframes, production upgrades, avionics upgrades, or even spare parts. At this point, where the program is over $62 billion, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to spend more to ensure a fully functional fleet we’ve already paid for.
July 3rd, 2009 at 2:57 pmSlappyBastinado Says:
With 10’s of thousands of soldiers moving westward out of Iraq into the new war zone just created to fight the Tellabunny guys stealth can be of great help.
Sure. Because rebels living in caves have sophisticated radar systems and normally use them to shoot down the non-stealth fighter planes. NO, WAIT, THEY DONT!
We, of course, wish our soldiers well in the hunt and termination of the enemys of the state. The more lethal the equipment the US military has the fewer enemy combatants will have to spend time (no more Gitmo) in the new and improved torture chambers of our allies.
Why don’t you nuke the whole continent of Asia while you’re at it? That way, even less enemy combatants will survive!
July 3rd, 2009 at 2:58 pmpete Says:
On the issue of the extra $369 million? That depends. I still haven’t seen exactly what it’s for. (If anyone knows please post a link!)
Here you go:
“The new funding is, in effect, a down payment on 12 additional jets to be bought in the fiscal year 2011.”
July 3rd, 2009 at 3:01 pmWhy are my posts not appearing?
July 3rd, 2009 at 3:08 pmis there some funky, prissy-ass new filter?
July 3rd, 2009 at 3:09 pmBut..but..they represent US! right? Right?
July 3rd, 2009 at 3:09 pmSurprise! Surprise! Who’d ever guess?
July 3rd, 2009 at 3:12 pmThe repug stands to gain financially.
The same jerks who deny health care to all Americans (too expensive, they say),
deny unemployment benefits( states don’t have any money),
who ship as many jobs overseas for cheap labor (anyone see lowered retail prices on the imports?),
who had no qualms about funding an illegal war (off-budget, no-bid contracts, at a cost of a trillion dollars, with billions in cash unaccounted)
it’s vulchers like this guy – who want to spend millions on unuseful equipment to feather their own nests.
Does this fall under war-profiteering?
July 3rd, 2009 at 3:13 pmThe MIC needs a mommy to keep it in check.
July 3rd, 2009 at 3:13 pmThe answers are easy what stands in the way is our world view and thousands of years of “CULTure”.
July 3rd, 2009 at 3:14 pmMilton Friedman had it exactly backwards , without the love of our fellow man none of us as modern citizens possess the skills to survive without the services of countless unseen individuals , growing our food , producing and maintaining our our cars , sewing our clothing ,providing our heat in the winter .
Most of us can’t grow a string bean , we are more dependent upon our fellow man than any of the preceeding generations !
Thanks, Luis Chapulin M. But, I had seen that story before and I’m still confused. Here are the contradictory statements which are, unfortunately, not resolved.
One of the proponents was Utah Republican Rep. Rob Bishop, who believes that 187 jets is “frighteningly low,” according to a spokesman. Some lawmakers wanted to commit to buying 12 more F-22 jets, but others in the group thought that option would be too expensive. The new funding is, in effect, a down payment on 12 additional jets to be bought in the fiscal year 2011.
And then there’s this…
In an interview at the Paris Air Show on Monday, Mr. Stevens said the company had worked very hard to keep F-22 production going but once Mr. Gates made clear the program would stop at 187 jets, he felt he had to abide by the Obama administration’s Pentagon priorities.
What Mr. Gates didn’t make clear is, would the program fall short of 187, or spares, or upgrades etc?
If the new funds are indeed a down payment? It sounds like a bad deal. I’ll keep looking. Thanks again for the link.
July 3rd, 2009 at 3:17 pmThat’s called fascism.
July 3rd, 2009 at 3:20 pm- – BREAKING NEWS – -
Sarah Palin is stepping down as Governor of Alaska…
July 3rd, 2009 at 3:23 pmAllow me to attempt to paraphrase something I read in the Deutsche museum in Bonn a few months ago written a few feet from a large section of the ow defunct Berlin wall….
July 3rd, 2009 at 3:24 pm” your car is from Japan ,
your coffee from Brazil ,
your toy from China ,
your entertainment from America,
your oil from Russia “…
Love is the for
Allow me to attempt to paraphrase something I read in the Deutsche museum in Bonn a few months ago written a few feet from a large section of the ow defunct Berlin wall….
July 3rd, 2009 at 3:24 pm” your car is from Japan ,
your coffee from Brazil ,
your toy from China ,
your entertainment from America,
your oil from Russia “…
Love is the for
”’slipped the funding in anyways.
aaack! is that even proper english???!
you kids! that is a major pet peeve of mine…
there is only ONE ‘anyway’… ‘any’ covers the gambit of ways…
seriously – does any language professional know?
i just hate the sound of it… correct me if i’m wrong…
sorry lee… good story otherwise… thanks!
July 3rd, 2009 at 3:25 pmWow. Some people are starting to get it.
ACES high, baby.
And don’t forget this when a health care bill makes it through.
July 3rd, 2009 at 3:26 pmLove is the real force and reason !!!
July 3rd, 2009 at 3:26 pmBadmoodman – damn, must be boofin’ “first-dude’s” business partners again.
July 3rd, 2009 at 3:29 pmI’m not sure which position you’re taking, freeman.
There has been a leisure class since before the invention of writing. Sometimes it’s larger, sometimes it’s smaller, and sometimes it dies off. But?
The leisure class also supplies technicians and the tools needed to replace labor, i.e. slavery. I don’t recall who said it but I once read,; “If the Greeks or Egyptians had steam power they wouldn’t have had slaves”.
While there is some validity to the assertion that urban populations would suffer more in a general collapse, we humans have an unprecedented ability to call for help and deliver aid.
July 3rd, 2009 at 3:30 pmAlejandro – you cannot really understand this without looking at what corporations are actually exerting the most influence.
If you do, you will see that they are all related directly or indirectly to the military-industrial complex.
Being a corporation in and of itself bestows no powers, but be part of the war machine and now you have the public by the balls!
July 3rd, 2009 at 3:31 pmContinuing off topic:
There’s no way in Hell the GOP can survive a 3 1/2 year Presidential run by Bible Spice. The question is, can we sane people survive it?
July 3rd, 2009 at 3:37 pmAnother Joe, while the MIC is the largest anal raping the public gets, it’s not the only one.
Pete, I also heard that the Greeks actually did realize the power of Hero’s engine, but the PTB said “Well, we could use steam power, but what the hell are we going to do with all these slaves?”
July 3rd, 2009 at 3:38 pmThere’s no way in Hell the GOP can survive a 3 1/2 year Presidential run by Bible Spice. The question is, can we sane people survive it?
– - Palin is kaput in national politics. You cannot bail on your only commitment before completion and expect people to vote for you again. Palin is saying that her “family and her faith are more important than Alaska right now.”
You’d think she’d have waited to drop this bomb until about 6pm on a holiday weekend.
July 3rd, 2009 at 3:42 pmPete I became part of the leisure class when I stopped working , but in my ecstasy I get alot done . he self is no doer …. Krishna
July 3rd, 2009 at 3:42 pmAlejandro – not trying to imply that it isn’t, but am trying to ask people to be careful, its scope is much larger than many would have thought of even a dozen years ago.
There are any number of components now, all of which can, if we are not careful, hide the fact that the overwhelming balance of power (especially in terms of anything related to spending) is heavily skewed to the “war machine.”
Today, that is oil & other engergy, airplane & heavy vehicle manufacturing, many technology & communication firms, mass media, and even some privatized social services!
Many are un-aware that the company formerly known as “blackwater” is actually recruiting for the army and private “security”/mercenary organizations under the guise of helping economically distressed, socio-economic disadvantaged, and unemployed people.
July 3rd, 2009 at 3:46 pmBadmoodman – no need to wait until 6. There is another story behind this that will eventually break. Someone must have the good on her.
Remember, earlier this week, mclame campaign aides were slammin’ her. They must have more to share.
July 3rd, 2009 at 3:47 pmImagine the terror when the prospect of War slipped away with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the fall of the Berlin wall .
July 3rd, 2009 at 3:51 pmYesterdays man is having a hard time evolving .
Palin: “The world needs more kids like Trig, not fewer.”
WOW.
July 3rd, 2009 at 3:55 pmOM AH HUM VAJRA GURU PADMA SIDHI HUM
July 3rd, 2009 at 3:56 pmWhy do libs hate our national defense? They want us to get attacked and taken over.
July 3rd, 2009 at 3:57 pmHi The Young Republican:
July 3rd, 2009 at 3:59 pmDon’t be scared…
The Young Republican – US WAS ATTACKED AND TAKEN OVER VIA 2 STOLEN ELECTIONS!!!!!
And the election fraud was perpetrated by the repugs and the attacks happened on their watch.
Pretty stupid to come here and proclaim to the world that somehow repugs/neocons keep us safe, protect the US Constitution, and (most laughable of all) are “fiscally conservative!”
July 3rd, 2009 at 4:03 pmThe us spends ,I believe, more than the combine totals of the other top 15 countries combined and has for decades .
July 3rd, 2009 at 4:03 pmhttp://www.truthandpolitics.org/military-US-world.php
Oh – and then there’s that hilarious crap about the “values crowd” and sanctity of marriage…
July 3rd, 2009 at 4:03 pmFreeman, I used “leisure class” in the broadest possible sense, perhaps incorrectly. I should have made the distinction between a leisure class and urban dwellers in general. Technology has a mixed record on keeping urban dwellers fed and clothed to be sure but, it would take broad systemic collapse to make our separation from the land the “killer issue”.
July 3rd, 2009 at 4:04 pmDB have you offered him something to eat? He looks famished ?
July 3rd, 2009 at 4:04 pmGood thing the repugs in DC have their own adultery bible study group which, evidently, told ensign and sanford to “go for it”.
July 3rd, 2009 at 4:05 pmHitler Youth(aka Young Rethuglican) says:
GO CHENEY YOURSELF PUNK!
July 3rd, 2009 at 4:08 pmBetter still, enlist in the army and fight the war your fuhrer chimp started.
pete ,
I didn’t see it as a killer issue just felt that the reality is that we live today by the love of one another and not in truth as a result of self interest and the law of the jungle .
Think of it like the changes einstein made to newton .No model is truly accurate ( prajna paramite sutra ) but einsteins is more correct than newtons if we step back a bit , although at some level both models work in describing the same event.
July 3rd, 2009 at 4:10 pmHey fellow pranksters it’s almost Oregon Country Faire time !
July 3rd, 2009 at 4:16 pmor was it the diamond sutra ?
July 3rd, 2009 at 4:19 pmI’ve got it now, freeman.
As someone who has spent much of my life collecting sustenance from the wild I can sometimes grow contemptuous of people who couldn’t build a fire, much less catch anything to cook on it.
July 3rd, 2009 at 4:22 pmDon’t forget Nancy-Ann DeParle’s health care stock holdings, evidenced by her 2009 financial disclosure form:
http://stateofthedivision.blogspot.com/2009/06/deparles-excellent-adventure.html
The White House Health Czar is similarly conflicted.
July 3rd, 2009 at 4:31 pmSo I ask again, if the military doesn’t want it and says it doesn’t meet their needs, why are we buying it ?
July 3rd, 2009 at 4:55 pmIt’s called pork.
July 3rd, 2009 at 5:06 pmBy whom? You’ve watched the movie Independence Day too many times.
Grow up and try to stop being such a big pussy.
July 3rd, 2009 at 5:07 pmpERHAPS we need a rule that forces Congresscritters who have a stake in the companies they hold stock in to recuse themselves from voting on issues that concern those companies…Oh wait…can’t do that, that would be OMG COMMUNISM or TEH HOMO AGENDA working…
July 3rd, 2009 at 5:09 pmThe Young Chickenshit Republican thinks we need it to keep the Taliban from taking over Toledo.
July 3rd, 2009 at 5:10 pmI gotta say, no matter how unpopular it may be here, that we should build more F-22’s. The exact same arguments were made for stopping the F-15 after its first production run and had we heeded those calls, our Air Force would be in a very sorry state. All weapons programs suffer from cost, requirements, and out-right stupidity, but that doesn’t mean they are do not have a value.
I believe the F-22 has problems, but also potential; and like so many weapons before, it will grow and mature in use and in the end give us a very good service. However, the F-22 cannot do any of those things if we build so few of them as to make them no more than novelties. Only building 185 of them makes them painful to support, difficult to deploy, and overall compounds our losses on the F-22.
July 3rd, 2009 at 6:03 pmshoeless Says:
The Young Republican Says:
Why do libs hate our national defense? They want us to get attacked and taken over.
By whom? You’ve watched the movie Independence Day too many times.
Or “Red Dawn“.
/Wolverines!
July 3rd, 2009 at 8:15 pmTruthout and MSNBC picked up the conflict story of Nancy-Ann DeParle:
http://www.truthout.org/070309HA
This one has no links to my blog with its many posts on for-profit Nancy during the last four months. The last one disappeared.
July 4th, 2009 at 11:18 amThe classic military mistake getting ready to fight the LAST war instead of the next war. Think Maginot line
July 5th, 2009 at 12:30 amYou all might also be interested in how much for-profit health industry stock both Republicans and “Democrats” own, not to mention the bribes they continue to pocket.
July 5th, 2009 at 7:34 amThank you very nice Online Müzik Dinle Müzik Dinle Türkü Dinleme sitemize bekleriz, Ayrica bu Muzik Dinleme ve Türkü Dinleme Kürtce mp3 Sitemizede Bekleriz.
July 5th, 2009 at 11:24 amGee imagine that, owning stock in a company that builds F-22’s.
July 6th, 2009 at 11:42 amNothing like greed and corruption in America.
sesli sohbet, sesli chat, seslisohbet, seslichat, kameral? sohbet, görüntülü chat, kameral? chat, görüntülü sohbet, sesli, seviyeli sohbetsesli sohbet sesli chat seslichat seslisohbet
July 6th, 2009 at 7:25 pm