The cost of war in Iraq was $3.8B a month while in Afghanistan it was $6.7B. It sounds very good for a politician to comment on this wasteful spending and how we need to bring our troops home; but there’s something they intentionally aren’t telling us.
As with any organization a majority of the costs of war is in military personnel. So even if our troops were brought back to the U.S., payroll would still be going out. Have you heard this side of the story from our legislators?
A lot of the money went towards stimulating our economy for those industries that supported the war effort (i.e. communication equipment, computers, fuel, guns, meals, uniforms, vehicles, etc.). The government will lose tax revenues when all of these military businesses are no longer needed. When the war is over at least a hundred thousand civilians and veterans will lose their jobs.
President Obama said in his last State of the Union address that we will take the savings from pulling our troops out of Afghanistan and apply half it to pay down our debt and half of it to nation build in the U.S. Of course the Democrats gave him a standing ovation. I was so upset by what he said that I called the Communication’s Department at the White House. I told the person I spoke to that we don’t have any savings because China financed our war effort. We have to take the savings and pay back what we borrowed. Plus with the number of vets they just cut we’ll be paying out a minimum $1.9B a year in salary and benefits until they get jobs. What President Obama said made him look good but it wasn’t true. Both he and his staff either don’t understand the economy of war or they’re lying. You decide. Keep in mind I don’t think President Obama’s political spin is any different than other politicians have done. My problem is that the higher you go up the political ladder the more negative impact spin can have.
This is how our politicians treat our military veterans and their families:
If you’re a surviving member of a soldier killed in action you first receive a check for $6,000 followed by another one for $1,750 to help with burial costs. Half of this is taxable. If you’re a surviving spouse you get $833 a month plus $211 for each child under the age of 18.
Let’s compare the VA program above to the amount our representatives gave to the victims’ families of 9-11. Even though most of those who died had life insurance the Congress and Senate felt compelled to give each family $1,185,000 (on average). All of us felt very sorry for what happened on September 11th but what our government did was wrong. We certainly didn’t get a chance to vote on whether or not we wanted to spend this money. I’m sure they gave the money for altruistic reasons; but they were wrong in doing it. It’s just another example of how they’re not qualified to represent us.
Do you remember how livid our representatives were over the conditions of VA Hospitals? Many of them got press coverage saying that our Vets should never be treated like this. Yet all of them knew the Veteran’s Administration was underfunded. The VA has screamed for years to have their budget increased dramatically because of the conditions of their hospitals and the lack of supplies and people to support our wounded vets.
What’s even worse is that instead of getting the money to the VA they chose to take care of their constituents through Pork Barrel spending, so they could get re-elected. It absolutely disgusts me that these politicians play political games when it comes to our military. They certainly love touring the VA Hospitals to take advantage of photo-ops but behind the scenes they’re stealing from our soldiers and their family members.
As with any organization a majority of the costs of war is in military personnel. So even if our troops were brought back to the U.S., payroll would still be going out. Have you heard this side of the story from our legislators?
A lot of the money went towards stimulating our economy for those industries that supported the war effort (i.e. communication equipment, computers, fuel, guns, meals, uniforms, vehicles, etc.). The government will lose tax revenues when all of these military businesses are no longer needed. When the war is over at least a hundred thousand civilians and veterans will lose their jobs.
President Obama said in his last State of the Union address that we will take the savings from pulling our troops out of Afghanistan and apply half it to pay down our debt and half of it to nation build in the U.S. Of course the Democrats gave him a standing ovation. I was so upset by what he said that I called the Communication’s Department at the White House. I told the person I spoke to that we don’t have any savings because China financed our war effort. We have to take the savings and pay back what we borrowed. Plus with the number of vets they just cut we’ll be paying out a minimum $1.9B a year in salary and benefits until they get jobs. What President Obama said made him look good but it wasn’t true. Both he and his staff either don’t understand the economy of war or they’re lying. You decide. Keep in mind I don’t think President Obama’s political spin is any different than other politicians have done. My problem is that the higher you go up the political ladder the more negative impact spin can have.
This is how our politicians treat our military veterans and their families:
If you’re a surviving member of a soldier killed in action you first receive a check for $6,000 followed by another one for $1,750 to help with burial costs. Half of this is taxable. If you’re a surviving spouse you get $833 a month plus $211 for each child under the age of 18.
Let’s compare the VA program above to the amount our representatives gave to the victims’ families of 9-11. Even though most of those who died had life insurance the Congress and Senate felt compelled to give each family $1,185,000 (on average). All of us felt very sorry for what happened on September 11th but what our government did was wrong. We certainly didn’t get a chance to vote on whether or not we wanted to spend this money. I’m sure they gave the money for altruistic reasons; but they were wrong in doing it. It’s just another example of how they’re not qualified to represent us.
Do you remember how livid our representatives were over the conditions of VA Hospitals? Many of them got press coverage saying that our Vets should never be treated like this. Yet all of them knew the Veteran’s Administration was underfunded. The VA has screamed for years to have their budget increased dramatically because of the conditions of their hospitals and the lack of supplies and people to support our wounded vets.
What’s even worse is that instead of getting the money to the VA they chose to take care of their constituents through Pork Barrel spending, so they could get re-elected. It absolutely disgusts me that these politicians play political games when it comes to our military. They certainly love touring the VA Hospitals to take advantage of photo-ops but behind the scenes they’re stealing from our soldiers and their family members.
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