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turbinetree

(24,632 posts)
Thu Jan 18, 2018, 12:28 PM Jan 2018

Ryan: Budget fights have pushed military 'past the breaking point'

Last edited Thu Jan 18, 2018, 06:29 PM - Edit history (2)

Source: The Hill

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Thursday cautioned about the crumbling state of the U.S. military, warning that long-term budget cuts and Washington melodrama have pushed our military past the breaking point.

Instead of upgrading our hardware, we have let our equipment age. Instead of equipping our troops for tomorrows fight, we have let them become woefully under-equipped, Ryan told attendees at a Center for Strategic and International Studies event.

The Pentagon started 2018 on a continuing resolution (CR), the ninth year the Defense Department has begun its year on a stop-gap spending measure. A CR keeps the building open, but prevents new programs from starting and delays maintenance and training.

This has left the military too small, over-worked and with aircraft that cant fly, Ryan said.

Read more: http://thehill.com/policy/defense/369527-ryan-budget-fights-have-pushed-military-past-the-breaking-point



Hey Paul ":ayn rand" Ryan here's a solution reinstate the draft. As for aging aircraft, your kidding right, the aircraft keep getting modernized until the next generation comes fully on line....................your full of shit

You realize that there are two nuclear submarines being built, right, and this country spend more on military hardware than the world---------------your still full of shit


After more considerable thinking I want the government to shut down, then Ryan, and McConnell , and sexual predator can't do anymore damage, no more appointments to the bench, no more land being given to the polluters.............shut it down, Social Security and Medicare Medicaid don't stop





November 2018 cabinet get here fast enough
37 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Ryan: Budget fights have pushed military 'past the breaking point' (Original Post) turbinetree Jan 2018 OP
Yeah but killing Americans by the GOPs is a.o.k. Iliyah Jan 2018 #1
In other words - my military contractor donors can't sign contracts underpants Jan 2018 #2
We could cut the military budget in half ... aggiesal Jan 2018 #3
Military cut of half would be a good start. The American holy cow is the military. Fred Sanders Jan 2018 #17
This is their new mantra montanacowboy Jan 2018 #4
YES Chasstev365 Jan 2018 #28
Somebody needs to explain how we spend so much on defense and our military is in such sad shape Algernon Moncrieff Jan 2018 #5
How about the DoD puts its billions of wasted dollars finally to use? DetlefK Jan 2018 #6
I don't think so Va Lefty Jan 2018 #7
They spend money on fictional "new tech" dreamed up by the MIC BumRushDaShow Jan 2018 #8
the typical conservative bullshit concerning military budget and overall federal budget...why wasn't beachbum bob Jan 2018 #9
What a hypocrite Timmygoat Jan 2018 #10
The war budget consumes over 1/2 od US spending. guillaumeb Jan 2018 #11
Here are 2016 figures Igel Jan 2018 #22
Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid money pay for necessities. Sophia4 Jan 2018 #30
However almost all Social Security and Medicare spending is paid for by their own payroll taxes wishstar Jan 2018 #34
When all military related expenses are included, guillaumeb Jan 2018 #36
Two choices: VMA131Marine Jan 2018 #12
What total bullsh*t!. sinkingfeeling Jan 2018 #13
Sounds like Ryan is getting desperate before the next elections groundloop Jan 2018 #14
Sequestration was a result of Lyin Ryan. What an asshole! Roland99 Jan 2018 #15
Such bullshit. Stoke the fires of the MIC with more taxpayer debt, you fraud. AtheistCrusader Jan 2018 #16
HUH? What a crock! GOP small government "principle" has created a dichotomy. slumcamper Jan 2018 #18
Never mind the roads and bridges crumbling...as long as our tanks and missels are good to go titaniumsalute Jan 2018 #19
Seems like to me American values and culture are winning any war that we've had and SWBTATTReg Jan 2018 #20
Yeah Ryan drum up so more fear. He's so full of it. God I hope he gets the boot. YOHABLO Jan 2018 #21
While you're so concerned about the military. Corgigal Jan 2018 #23
Am reminded UpInArms Jan 2018 #24
Did the share price of defense contractors take a dive? dflprincess Jan 2018 #25
Where is all the Defense money going? nt Irish_Dem Jan 2018 #26
This weeks timely political whine. He and Mitch can choke on it. Guilded Lilly Jan 2018 #27
hahahahaha. Pass a budget that can clear the GOP Senate you fucking loser Freethinker65 Jan 2018 #29
'Wado'. 👊 sprinkleeninow Jan 2018 #31
How many years have the GOP controlled Congress? left-of-center2012 Jan 2018 #32
DoD contracts are still being awarded nitpicker Jan 2018 #33
That's a crock DeminPennswoods Jan 2018 #35
Boo hoo...you wrote the playbook on government shutdowns...fuck off Ryan. I keep hearing you Demsrule86 Jan 2018 #37

underpants

(182,273 posts)
2. In other words - my military contractor donors can't sign contracts
Thu Jan 18, 2018, 12:34 PM
Jan 2018

Ryan, your party is the one that has killed all the budget deals often internally. Remember when your boy Cruz filibustered and created the shutdown?

aggiesal

(8,864 posts)
3. We could cut the military budget in half ...
Thu Jan 18, 2018, 12:34 PM
Jan 2018

and still be the highest funded military in the world.

AND, the half that was cut could easily pay for everyone's college education!

Little Eddie Munster can take flying leap!

montanacowboy

(6,052 posts)
4. This is their new mantra
Thu Jan 18, 2018, 12:34 PM
Jan 2018

oh, our poor military

When this piece of filthy shit is gone from the halls of Congress will be a happy day

Fuck you and all the scumbags with an R after their name

A pox on all their houses

Algernon Moncrieff

(5,780 posts)
5. Somebody needs to explain how we spend so much on defense and our military is in such sad shape
Thu Jan 18, 2018, 12:34 PM
Jan 2018

Whenever "education" or "social welfare" is brought up, I always hear lectures about how throwing money at things doesn't solve problems and how we need to "spend smarter." I also keep hearing about how the Fed, Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, etc. need to be audited.

So this is my proposition to you, Mr. Speaker: not one dime more until an independent audit of the Pentagon and Defense procurement procedures with access to all classified information is allowed to take a critical, objective look at the defense budget. We spend an insane amount on defense compared to Russia and China and pretty much everyone else.

DetlefK

(16,423 posts)
6. How about the DoD puts its billions of wasted dollars finally to use?
Thu Jan 18, 2018, 12:35 PM
Jan 2018

In the 1990s a decision was made to audit the US military. Last year they were ready for the first-ever partial audit. And even that revealed waste and inefficiencies.

Still no full audit.

BumRushDaShow

(127,295 posts)
8. They spend money on fictional "new tech" dreamed up by the MIC
Thu Jan 18, 2018, 12:38 PM
Jan 2018

leaving little or nothing (like armored vehicles and bullets) for the troops.

 

beachbum bob

(10,437 posts)
9. the typical conservative bullshit concerning military budget and overall federal budget...why wasn't
Thu Jan 18, 2018, 12:38 PM
Jan 2018

this addressed 6 months ago??

cry me a river is my response to Ryan, McConnel and trump

Timmygoat

(779 posts)
10. What a hypocrite
Thu Jan 18, 2018, 12:40 PM
Jan 2018

Does he forget that the GOP (Cruz) shut the government down for, if I remember right weeks (remember green eggs and ham) Someone should tell him to fund the dreamers etc and shut up!

guillaumeb

(42,641 posts)
11. The war budget consumes over 1/2 od US spending.
Thu Jan 18, 2018, 12:42 PM
Jan 2018

The US spends more on its war budget than nearly every other country combined.
The war industry buys a lot of politicians.
Paul Ryan is a liar.

Igel

(35,191 posts)
22. Here are 2016 figures
Thu Jan 18, 2018, 10:44 PM
Jan 2018

Social Security: $910 billion
Medicare: $695 billion
Defense: $588 billion
Medicaid: $370 billion

When you look at discretionary spending, non-mandatory spending, a bit over half is DOD related. But over half of US spending is not discretionary.

There's a bit of military in the $600+ billion discretionary spending as well, mostly things like VA or college grants. But a Russian back in '89 pointed out to me that the pay scale for Russian soldiers was chump change, while for US soldiers it was respectable. In Russia, at the time, the military got first dibs on the best production with special specifications at the same prices everybody pays for off-the-rack stuff. Working for a Chinese national in '95 and '96 taught me that many of the businesses and factories in mainland China were owned by the military, so their not minuscule profits and some of their production went to the military and the funds were "off books"--to the extent you could trust the official records. Later it was pointed out that there was a secret budget for secret projects, many of which were military.

A lot of US military development is also R&D, and funds fairly basic research. Which in other countries might still be funded, but wouldn't be funded by the military. Except maybe in China and Russia.

 

Sophia4

(3,515 posts)
30. Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid money pay for necessities.
Thu Jan 18, 2018, 11:40 PM
Jan 2018

A. To answer your second question first, qualifying for the maximum Social Security benefit is very difficult—it’s the equivalent of winning a benefits Powerball. To get the highest benefit possible at your full retirement age (FRA), your income needs to have been at or above the Social Security earnings ceiling (the amount of income subject to payroll tax) each year for at least 35 years since age 22. The payroll earnings cap is $127,200 in 2017; in 1982, 35 years ago, it was $32,400. Only about 6% of workers earn above the maximum in any given year.

For someone who racked up maximum taxable earnings each year, and who reaches the FRA of 66 in 2017, the maximum benefit would be $2,687 a month, or $32,244 a year. By contrast, the average monthly benefit is just $1,342 a month.

There’s also what we might call a maximum maximum benefit. If you wait till age 70 to file, you get delayed retirement credits that boost your benefits by 7% to 8% a year for each year you wait. If you claim at age 70 this year, the maximum benefit is $3,538, or $42,456 a year. Only about 2% of workers wait to 70 to claim.

http://time.com/money/4644332/maximum-social-security-benefit-2017/

The average $1,342 per month amounts to $16,104 per year or $7.75 per hour for 40 hours per 52 weeks a year. Federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. Generally, older workers earn more than that. The poverty level is $11,367 per year for people over 65.

https://www.irp.wisc.edu/faqs/faq1.htm

wishstar

(5,267 posts)
34. However almost all Social Security and Medicare spending is paid for by their own payroll taxes
Fri Jan 19, 2018, 07:15 AM
Jan 2018

Social Security and Medicare should not even be lumped in with other spending as those 2 programs pay for themselves with their own specific dedicated revenue source (and still have some Trust funds on paper). They are solvent compared to other government spending for which we do not raise enough tax revenues to cover.

However Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income and other health care programs are paid from the general Federal income tax revenues that pay for defense spending and everything else.

Pie chart looks a lot different and defense spending is the biggest single chunk of the pie once Soc Sec and Medicare are taken out of equation.

guillaumeb

(42,641 posts)
36. When all military related expenses are included,
Fri Jan 19, 2018, 03:12 PM
Jan 2018

the war budget climbs to over 1 trillion. It is hidden in the Department of the Interior, in Veterans Affairs, in the Department of Energy, and we have no idea how much is in the various secret agencies that are part of the war machine.

VMA131Marine

(4,123 posts)
12. Two choices:
Thu Jan 18, 2018, 12:46 PM
Jan 2018

Spend more
Do less

We are planning to build another 9 Ford class carriers at $10B each
We are planning to buy another 2400 F-35s at $100M each
We are planning to build another 31 Virginia-class fast attack subs at $2.7B each
We are planning to build 12 Columbia class SSBNs at a cost of at least $5B each
We are planning to build another 9 Arleigh-Burke class destroyers at nearly $2B each

groundloop

(11,487 posts)
14. Sounds like Ryan is getting desperate before the next elections
Thu Jan 18, 2018, 12:48 PM
Jan 2018

THIS is what repubs always do, wave the flag and claim that they're the only ones who care about our military.

As is widely known the US spends FAR more on our military than any other country in the world. WHY??? We have military installations in over 100 countries around the world. WHY???

Unsustainable military spending hastened the downfall of the Soviet Union, you'd think that we'd learn from that and start making sensible cuts to our military budget (and use the money to fund education, social programs, infrastructure, etc.). But NO, repubs label anyone who dares to suggest reducing our 'defense' budget as unpatriotic.

AtheistCrusader

(33,982 posts)
16. Such bullshit. Stoke the fires of the MIC with more taxpayer debt, you fraud.
Thu Jan 18, 2018, 12:59 PM
Jan 2018

I'm sure the kickbacks are worth it.

slumcamper

(1,603 posts)
18. HUH? What a crock! GOP small government "principle" has created a dichotomy.
Thu Jan 18, 2018, 01:12 PM
Jan 2018

Slashing taxes and trying to drown government in a bathtub is incompatible with their BIG DEFENSE "principle."

Their entire philosophy is unsustainable.

Of course, our party seems to have a problem conveying that inescapable truth to a lot of folks.

SWBTATTReg

(21,856 posts)
20. Seems like to me American values and culture are winning any war that we've had and
Thu Jan 18, 2018, 02:09 PM
Jan 2018

doesn't really cost anything. Of course having a strong military is essential, but to overspend so much?

Why? It's really time to downsize our military in line w/ the rest of the world. We are spending roughly 36% of the entire world's military budget, or a little more than what the next 11 countries spend militarily combined.

Why?

Wisdom as to when and how to use this military force is paramount...the desire to use such force should be an absolute last thing on the list of possible choices, but sadly, with this administration and republican congress I fear for the worst in the misapplication and squandering of this valuable resource...in that they will perceive something as a slight against the country and then BAM! Just like the Iraq supposed mass weapons of destruction leading up to the entire mess we have now in Iraq/etc.

I would think that the world is in a better place now and that NO ONE wins in a war, any war.

Corgigal

(9,291 posts)
23. While you're so concerned about the military.
Thu Jan 18, 2018, 10:49 PM
Jan 2018

Did anyone ever figure out how Sgt. La David Johnson was left behind? What arrived of his person the week after he was buried?

Yeah, like you ever gave a rats ass. Did you check with his widow to see if she delivered their last child thus month?

God, do I hate these liars.

UpInArms

(51,252 posts)
24. Am reminded
Thu Jan 18, 2018, 10:55 PM
Jan 2018
Audit reveals Army's trillion-dollar accounting gaffes
The US Army made trillions of dollars of accounting mistakes and often did not have the receipts or invoices needed to support figures in its budget, according to a scathing Pentagon report.

The audit, conducted by the Defense Department's Office of Inspector General, found that the Army erroneously made $2.8 trillion in adjustments in the third quarter of 2015 to its Army general fund - one of the main accounts used to fund the service. The error amount skyrocketed to $6.5 trillion for all of last year, the report said.

The June report, first disclosed by Reuters on Friday, found "unreliable" data was used to prepare the financial statements, leading to the possibility that the Army's finances were "materially misstated."

Financial managers from the Pentagon and the Army "could not rely on the data in their accounting systems when making management and resource decisions," the audit said.
An Army spokesman disputed some of the findings.

DeminPennswoods

(15,246 posts)
35. That's a crock
Fri Jan 19, 2018, 08:42 AM
Jan 2018

DoD has more money than it knows what to do with. I was a civilian fed in DoD in an organization that helped spend it. By the time I retired, my grade level could authorize spending up to $500,000 with no further review and my grade was the 2nd from the bottom of the chain of command. One grade above me, essentially my supervisor, could authorize up to 1M in spending.

DoD wastes money on unnecessary contractors, many of who are military or civilians who retired on Friday and came back (to a similar position) as a contractor on Monday. DoD is just mind-bogglingly wasteful.

Demsrule86

(68,348 posts)
37. Boo hoo...you wrote the playbook on government shutdowns...fuck off Ryan. I keep hearing you
Sat Jan 20, 2018, 09:36 AM
Jan 2018

are in trouble in Janesville...going to retire you pos.

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