Marines badly in need of funding, report says

[deadparrot]

The Marine Corps, America's 911 force, needs emergency help of its own, according to a report released today by two prominent think tanks.

Largely echoing what Marine commanders have told Congress in recent weeks, the study says the Corps needs $12 billion to bring its ground, communications and aircraft equipment back up to their levels before the Iraq war.

The service must also spend $5 billion for equipment repairs each year it maintains a major presence in Iraq, said military experts from the Lexington Institute in Arlington, Va., and the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C. Before the war started, Marine officials spent about $3 billion annually on refurbishing equipment that was 20 years old in many cases.

The Corps' wartime equipment challenges have significantly boosted the workload for a key maintenance and repair center in Barstow, possibly put troops at greater risk for death or injury in combat zones and strained the operating budgets for bases such as Camp Pendleton and Miramar Marine Corps Air Station, where everything from child care services to library hours were temporarily reduced this year.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20060823-9999-1n23barstow.html

[Monkeyman]

1. The wounded badly need funding too

[acmavm]

2. So where the hell is all this money being allocated for military

spending and the war going, pray tell.

This is criminal. Someone's stealing big time. Time for an investigation.

[Monkeyman]

3. 26 billion still missing in Iraq opps signing statement stopped that

[Deja Q]

4. Can't the government seek offshored help on this issue too?

:sarcasm:

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

5. $400,000,000,000.00 ain't what it used to be.

And the operational costs of the wars are off budget.

Cry me a fucking river!

[Tempest]

6. They're badly in need of a few good men as well

Funny how the Marines claimed they met 2005 recruiting goals, yet they're having to use the stop-loss in order to keep up necessary manpower levels.

[mom cat]

7. Tell the Pentagon to go find the TRILLIONS that are missing, then

we wil talk about more money. I am tired of pouring money down a rethole with nothing to show for it.

[leesa]

19. No shit! How about we put a few electrodes on Dov Zacheim's balls and

perhaps he can remember where he put it.

[walkon]

8. About 500 Billion

plus another 150-200 Billion is not enough?

[Dover]

9. Is the GOP starving out the military like they starve out gov. programs?

I wonder if they'd like to see the entire military privatized?

[rman]

13. I'm pretty sure they'd like to see the entire military privatized.

They run the show now, they are in a position to have various govt branches fail as to create plausible reason to privatize the lot. Instead of declaring war it'll just be a matter of corporations hiring "security". They could probably get away with not even having the media mentioning it.

[TheCowsCameHome]

10. Try having a bake sale. Or quit wasting money in Iraq.

Pick one.

[Anakin Skywalker]

11. Too Bad! Tax Cuts For the Rich

is more important, OK? Corporate Amerika and the CEOs need funding MORE!

[LynnTheDem]

12. The wounded badly in need... the entire military badly in need...

and enough things like body armour are badly in need, too.

But most of all, a sane CiC is very badly needed.

[Quantess]

14. Yes, and how about

adequate care for wounded veterans?
Halliburton is getting by $en$ationally, though.

[tomreedtoon]

15. Good PR idea: Spare Change for Marines!

Put together some nickel-and-dime collection stations, with something like clear Mason jars with a slot cut in the lid. Put them in public locations, with a poster attached which would say:

----------------------------------------------
HELP OUR NEEDY MARINES
MILITARY REPAIR AND EQUIPMENT FUND

President Bush is spending a fortune on his
War in Iraq, but little of that money is going
to replace or repair the equipment our
soldiers need. Most of your tax money is going
to his Halliburton corporate friends.

Please give your pennies and nickels to
help America's first line of defense...
because Bush and the Republicans won't.
---------------------------------------------


The trick is, it would be illegal to collect or take any of the money put into these jars - assuming that anyone does put money in. You would be collecting money under fraudulent conditions. This would be true if you collect money in person (which also might get you a Hillbilly Tactical Knife in the ribs). However, if you DON'T take the money - just let it pile up in the Mason jar and don't claim responsibility for doing so - you should be okay on legal gounds.

If anyone does this, it would be cool for you to take photos of the jar every few days, with dated pictures, to see:

1) if anyone puts change in,
2) if anyone steals the jar,
3) or if anyone defaces the poster.

[ama]

16. cut off the 3.5 billion a year to Israel

for a year and put it where America needs it, towards its own defense.¨America first¨ is not a swear word

[gratuitous]

17. Reporting not ready for duty, sir

Seems to me I recall that being used in a recent presidential campaign. Now, let's see . . . When could that have possibly been? And we're talking here about not just a division or two, but an entire branch of the military service having to report to the Commander in Chief "Not ready for duty, sir" should they be called on to defend the country.

Dang, it's right on the tip of my tongue! Somebody used that "reporting not ready for duty" stuff to great advantage in a presidential campaign. Was it 2000? Golly, this is frustrating!

Oh yeah!

http://archive.salon.com/politics/feature/2000/08/07/lie_week/

[w4rma]

18. I suppose the neo-cons can hold a bake sale for the military they have

decimated.