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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#263351: Dec 2nd 2018 at 3:06:40 PM

Exactly this, I admire arguments that are technical and policy focused but they simply are not winners electorally. People vote with their hearts, not their heads and thus we should push good policy in terms that appeal to the former rather than the latter.

That being said, I still find it reassuring that the right thing morally also almost, if not always, seems to be the right thing economically.

Edited by LSBK on Dec 2nd 2018 at 5:07:17 AM

Imca (Veteran)
#263352: Dec 2nd 2018 at 3:12:03 PM

And a lot of veterans are mad about the infinite spending on tech versus the complete lack of spending for caring for veterans.

This is actually very wrong, the tech part of military spending is abysmally underfunded, and why a lot of solders vote republican, ask them about it and they will on a huge thing about how there expected to place there life on the line and rely on equipment that is older then there grandparents.

The F-35 remains, because the US aircraft are 40 years out of date, Same for the M1 Abrams main battle tank. There exists ZERO close range air defence platforms in the military aresenal, which annoys the Army because those are also usefull for dealing with soft targets.

They have been trying to replace the infantry rifle for going on 30 years now.

The actual tech and equipment part of the US armed forces is in BAD shape.... you know where most of that funding goes? Waste.

The military literaly wastes its suppplies, burning off all its fuel, or pushing equipment into the water at the end of the year if there navy, because if they don't use it, they won't get it agian next year, which is REALLY bad because what you don't need one year, you might need the next due to the inability to predict how machinery will break, nor how resources will be consumed during war.... and there exists no avenu to get that equipment back once the goverment has determined they no longer need it.

So in essence, due to the rules intended to reduce military spending, a situation has been created where you are ALWAYS paying for a military at war time readiness which is absurdly expensive, for context during WWII ONE BATTLE, would expend as much fuel as the entire millitary for a previous year, and your basicly having to pay for that constantly because if they quit wasting it they cant get it when they need it.

And this isn't even covering the commanding officers, where you have Navy Admirals siphoning off MILLIONS to pay for hookers and drugs....

....

Which deserves a "not making this up" disclaimer, look up Fat Leonard.... something like 40 officers have been tried for that recently.

The US military is a hilariously bloated and ineffecient machine, but its hardware requesition and tech development parts are not the culprit, the oppisite really they are suffering massivly as victims of it.

Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#263353: Dec 2nd 2018 at 3:16:06 PM

[up] I also would think that if the Soldiers go into the field, they want to do it with the best equipment possible, so I can't really imagine that Vets are per se against higher spending into hardware. But I might be wrong there.

Most likely the US military (just like the Bundeswehr) could use an audit to figure out where the problems lie and where the money is actually vanishing to.

AzurePaladin She/Her Pronouns from Forest of Magic Since: Apr, 2018 Relationship Status: Mu
She/Her Pronouns
#263354: Dec 2nd 2018 at 3:18:45 PM

[up] That was on the Democratic Platform 2016. I took a screenshot of it, but I think I've lost it somewhere.

Edited by AzurePaladin on Dec 2nd 2018 at 6:19:10 AM

The awful things he says and does are burned into our cultural consciousness like a CRT display left on the same picture too long. -Fighteer
Imca (Veteran)
#263355: Dec 2nd 2018 at 3:21:35 PM

An audit would do them wonders, as would streamlining the process of "we didn't need that extra million gallons of fuel this year, but we do this year can we please have it back" so that they can quit wasting shit.

Pair those together and you would save millions, potentialy billions of dollars.

Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#263356: Dec 2nd 2018 at 3:27:02 PM

See, this is why I think that the whole "we spend just as much on the military" argument is risky, unless you say that "there is money which is wasted within the military because of X, if we solve that problem there will be easily money for Y".

Edited by Swanpride on Dec 2nd 2018 at 3:27:19 AM

Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#263357: Dec 2nd 2018 at 3:28:59 PM

Interesting news, House GOP and Puerto Rico's governor agree on statehood vote

I have to say I'm rather surprised, hopefully, this time measures will be put in place to stop bad faith attempts at sabotage via boycotting the vote.

It would be rather nice if Puerto Rico could become a state.

Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Dec 2nd 2018 at 6:29:26 AM

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang
Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#263358: Dec 2nd 2018 at 3:31:14 PM

That really is surprising...has anyone any idea why the GOP should agree? Do they think that they can secure the Puerto Rico votes this way? Or is this just political theatre?

Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#263359: Dec 2nd 2018 at 3:33:41 PM

As I understand, there has been relative bipartisan support for Puerto Rico becoming a state to the point that both parties platforms support it.

This could be a stopped clock moment, or Republicans for whatever reason think support will have lower costs than opposition. Or both.

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang
MrAHR Ahr river from ಠ_ಠ Since: Oct, 2010 Relationship Status: A cockroach, nothing can kill it.
Ahr river
#263360: Dec 2nd 2018 at 3:35:05 PM

It could just be the desire for a historic selling point. "The party that brought puerto rico in"

Read my stories!
Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#263361: Dec 2nd 2018 at 3:35:35 PM

Would that mean that ships can transport goods to Puerto Rico directly? Or would that require a separate decision?

Silasw A procrastination in of itself from A handcart to hell (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
A procrastination in of itself
#263362: Dec 2nd 2018 at 3:43:27 PM

To answer about my earlier comment about Blair, while he did embrace a number of rightward ideas (privatisation, deregulation, obidiance to Murdoch, etc...) he mainly ran on a very leftward platform, the introduction of the minimum wage, the restoring of NHS funding, the building of new schools, civil partnerships, commitment to the idea of Europe, etc...

That’s very different from the Blair of modern times, who has wholly embraced the right wing austerity myth and now the racist blaming of immigrants for deliberately caused shortages in government services.

Tony Blair in 1997 belived that the government should spend to help the downtrodden have a better life, now he thinks we should blame immigrants.

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#263363: Dec 2nd 2018 at 3:43:34 PM

The Pentagon actually did go through an Audit, for the first time this year.

The Pentagon has released the results of its first full financial audit, and it received a failing grade. Only a handful of the Pentagon’s numerous agencies received a passing grade from auditors, and most of them were asked to fix various financial irregularities.

But the auditors’ report mainly drew attention to the sheer scale of the U.S. military’s massive bureaucracy and its sprawling collection of military assets, an arsenal the audit valued at $2.7 trillion. Just counting those assets employed an army of 1,200 accountants who visited more than 600 locations, the Defense Department disclosed last week.

Congressional defense spending watchdogs were unsurprised by the department’s compliance issues, noting that any organization’s first full evaluation should be expected to return some irregularities. Instead, oversight-minded lawmakers seemed disappointed the report didn’t yield more results. They criticized the Pentagon’s apparent failure to develop a workable financial accounting system that can accurately keep track of its assets and liabilities.

The effort ate up more than $400 million. Auditors found that numerous back-office functions are insufficiently tracked, making it hard to monitor the flow of U.S. tax dollars in and out of the organization or to assess all government assets held by private-sector contractors.

Agencies that did pass the audit include: the Defense Health Agency; the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Civil Works; the Military Retirement Fund; the Defense Health Agency — contract resources management; the Defense Contract Audit Agency; and the Defense Finance and Accounting Service.

While the audit report did not call out specific instances of fraud, it did point to “significant information technology systems security issues” caused by very basic, nontechnical oversights like leaving departed employees’ IT permissions in place. The findings added to concerns raised last month by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) which noted that nearly every U.S. weapons system suffers from a “critical” cybersecurity vulnerability.

The audit identified 20 “material weaknesses” or deficiencies in the department’s internal controls. Most of auditors did not find particular instances of fraud or mismanagement. Rather, they found that in many cases the department is simply not tracking payments filtering in and out of its myriad agencies, leading auditors to question whether its financial statements are accurate.

Without going into specifics, the audit noted that the Defense Department had multiple material financial management systems that did not comply with federal requirements, and that its agencies did not implement internal controls over their information technology environment that adequately deter waste, fraud and abuse.

“These systemic deficiencies in financial management systems prevent the Do D from collecting and reporting financial and performance information that is accurate, reliable and timely,” auditors reported.

The report noted that not all transactions are properly recorded, making it hard to detect errors in financial statements. The department also was found to not have tracking systems in place to maintain historical cost data, something that auditors warned could lead to misstated financial statements. And the report noted that the Department had not established policies or procedures to manage or account for inventory held by related entities and government contractors, something that would again lead to misstatement on government financial documents.

“Multiple Do D components do not have sufficient entity level controls to establish an internal control system that will produce reliable financial reporting,” the report noted.

Edited by megaeliz on Dec 2nd 2018 at 6:44:31 AM

Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#263364: Dec 2nd 2018 at 3:46:04 PM

[up] Wait...for the first time? There was never an audit beforehand?

CommanderAce Commander Thor from Planet Earth, United States Since: Oct, 2011 Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Commander Thor
#263365: Dec 2nd 2018 at 3:46:04 PM

A question to bring up in light of Bush Sr.'s passing and how inevitably there are people livid over his atrocities not brought up in light of his death: are there any US presidents that could relatively be described as good presidents and has the CIA and other intelligence agencies ever actually had a good use? I feel given a lot of the terrible stuff that has been done by a lot of presidents and the CIA, I think a lot about that, although part of that may be because I have a terrible habit of running into leftists online that like to bring the CIA up or accuse someone of being a CIA stooge if they disagree with them.

Power of Thor!
TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#263366: Dec 2nd 2018 at 3:56:54 PM

Oscasio Cortez has said that it's frustrating that lawmakers enjoy cheap government insurance while opposing Medicare-For-All

Cortez is completely right, it's galling that privileged people continue to oppose Medicare-For-All when it's such necessary and beneficial reform.

Hopefully, the Democratic Party can coalesce around it and work towards laying down the foundation for healthcare reform.

Approval +3

We've known that was an issue for a while now but hearing her preparing to get into office and suddenly flip out and go, "WTF Government healthcare?!" somehow gives me more confidence in her. smile

It's a moment of sincerity that I really like.

Edited by TobiasDrake on Dec 2nd 2018 at 4:57:36 AM

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
archonspeaks Since: Jun, 2013
#263367: Dec 2nd 2018 at 4:27:41 PM

[up][up][up] The military is ridiculously difficult to audit, and there’s very little political will for something like that.

There’s no question money could be spent better, and the procurement process definitely needs help. Worth keeping in mind though is that “bad shape” for the US military is still better shape than any other military on the planet.

[up][up] The CIA, like every other federal agency, does good ever day by keeping our government stable and running.

They should have sent a poet.
LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#263368: Dec 2nd 2018 at 5:00:33 PM

I get the feeling that just being privy/involved with some shady or downright awful things just goes with being the President.

That's not meant to be an excuse, and some are obviously better than others, but you can probably point to Obama being involved with some messed up things and Bush (either of them) at least trying to do some actual good.

So as far as people not dwelling on Bush Sr.'s worst stuff... I'm mixed.

Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#263369: Dec 2nd 2018 at 5:07:18 PM

Approval +3

We've known that was an issue for a while now but hearing her preparing to get into office and suddenly flip out and go, "WTF Government healthcare?!" somehow gives me more confidence in her. smile

It's a moment of sincerity that I really like.

I completely agree, she's just very relatable and that sense of authenticity massively boosts her affability.

I think she has a promising future ahead of her and I look forward to seeing where she goes. grin

Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Dec 2nd 2018 at 8:08:04 AM

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang
Friendperson Since: May, 2018
#263370: Dec 2nd 2018 at 5:15:09 PM

[up][up] I think people are taking the usual couple days of respect after someone prominent dies before shitting on them.

AzurePaladin She/Her Pronouns from Forest of Magic Since: Apr, 2018 Relationship Status: Mu
She/Her Pronouns
#263371: Dec 2nd 2018 at 5:27:44 PM

> Puerto Rican Statehood

Its time to either do that or go with Independence, to be honest. The island seems to have been voting for statehood mostly, so statehood it should be.

Although if we do go with statehood, I hope we use this idea for the flag, the one that has the stars in a circle. Its about time for some variety, and it looks cool to boot.

Edited by AzurePaladin on Dec 2nd 2018 at 8:28:02 AM

The awful things he says and does are burned into our cultural consciousness like a CRT display left on the same picture too long. -Fighteer
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#263372: Dec 2nd 2018 at 5:30:10 PM

[up][up][up]I'm going to wait until she actually does more stuff. I've learned not to be swayed by a few choice comments and rhetoric.

Disgusted, but not surprised
DeathorCake Since: Mar, 2016
#263373: Dec 2nd 2018 at 5:32:57 PM

[up]x5

An impressive pile of bureaucratic shenanigans. Sir Humphrey Appleby would be proud.

Economy-wise having the US attempt to follow the German model cannot work. Well, the growth model anyway, the US could probably gain from copying a couple of their social programs. Currently huge swathes of the world has set up export economies based around selling stuff to the United States (and Britain/a few other deficit countries, but we're a bit small these days).

If the USA attempts to change to the German export-driven route then nobody will have money to buy the stuff, since a key part of being an export economy is keeping domestic labour costs (wages) down so that your exports are cheap. Hence, everyone slumps because not everyone can run an export surplus at once unless we start trading with Mars.

Hylarn (Don’t ask)
#263374: Dec 2nd 2018 at 5:36:20 PM

Re: 2020: The only thing that'd keep Trump from running is being dead. I think he'll do poorly for an incumbent, but the threat that he represents shouldn't be ignored, either. Wouldn't be surprised if he manages to take the electoral college

Re: Military spending: Reminder that the Pentagon falsifies all of it's financial statements and we have no idea where the money goes

Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#263375: Dec 2nd 2018 at 5:53:20 PM

Never mind

Edited by Ultimatum on Dec 2nd 2018 at 6:02:01 AM

have a listen and have a link to my discord server

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