Seems the DEFENSE industry is getting a free ride so far while bankers rape the taxpayer via the bailout freebies and Medicare is considered the evil stepchild.
Since Obamas victory, Sara Palin's pathetic whining, Blago, inaugural plans,planes dropping from the sky into the Hudson river, Hillary's nomination, bailout fatigue etc; there has been no mention of hacking away at a grotesque DEFENSE department budget that is just as heinous as the multitude of tax cuts given to the lazy rich over the past 8 years. Sacred cows indeed. Today, SLINKERWINK's post on Obama's plan to take down MEDICARE-cause that is what it is-is a prescient observation into the pres elects mentality. OBAMA calls it an entitlement-NO IT ISN'T!-MEDICARE is a promise and an extension of New Deal ethos. It should be expanded and funded even more. Amazing the consideration to go after MEDICARE without once mentioning the complete waste of tax payer dole on ridiculous weapons programs like STAR WARS and F22(RAPTOR) and 14 SEAWOLF submarines to name just a smidgeon. Just go over to BOEING and NORTHRUP and RAYTHEON web sites-to name a few-and check on the jaw dropping list of military hardware funded by you and I. One would surmise that the Billions given to Halliburton and other corrupt defense contractors in Iraq would head the list on shutting off the runaway spigot on Defense spending-and lets face it-that is what it has been for 8 years; a continuous capitulation to the greed of Defense spending. It makes me really pissed off to hear OBAMA tinker around with castrating Medicare while multi-billions in Defense graft gets little mention. I haven't heard of any backlash on Defense spending from Congress either. One should realize that tax cuts and Defense spending have been the evil brother and sister gulping down the nation's revenue stream. Coupled with the IRAQ war, no wonder there isnt a dime to do anything.
Is the critique on Medicare an across the bow shot against the Congressional possibility for the expansion of Medicare? I think it is for why penalize it in the first place? Expanding Medicare has already been shown to be the easiest way of providing total health care coverage as well as providing hundreds of thousands if not millions of jobs in the long run. And why deal with the nefarious BLUE DOGS on this issue? Because they are not inclined to maintain Medicare and will step in line with OBAMA's rhetoric towards savaging it.
The military is getting a free ride and its time we start taking some big whacks at their budget and the elimination of hundreds of billions of dollars of useless military projects. Problem with unnecessary weapons programs? Get rid of them and use the moula to fund MEDICARE and other worthy social programs. Lets fund Medicare, not patently worthless weapons systems in order to keep some ravenous contractor afloat.