Are we transitioning to a military-only economy?

[AntiFascist]

While everyone was focused on the $700 billion Wall Street bailout bill, President Bush simultaneously signed into law a $615 billion military spending bill, one of 3 such bills to be signed by the end of the year! While people have been calling for an FDR-like jobs creation program, something similar may be about to happen within the military sector. According to Chalmers Johnson, this reflects an incredible failure of the mass media and press to inform the people what really has been driving our nation into bankruptcy:

http://therealnews.com/t/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=2450

[ellaydubya]

1. Unbelievable.................

Please let this madness cease- are they going to do as much damage as possible before they leave office and lose the power-----------this is a criminal offense, if I ever saw one. I am sickened.:evilfrown: :mad: :wtf: :hurts: :grr:

[MrScorpio]

2. We've had a permanent war economy since the 1950's

It's been unabated and is not in any danger of ceasing.

Not just for the US, but also for the weapons that we sell around the world.

Death and destruction is a sure fire money maker.

It funds our revolving list of permanent enemies, it cripples any chance of building a social safety net.

It controls this country in more ways that anyone will ever know.

The economy is filtered through the Pentagon where I worked for seven and a half years.

Bush is only doing what he's paid to do; what every president after FDR was paid to do... Feed the monster.

[KG]

11. +1

[mmonk]

3. Transitioning?

[AntiFascist]

4. When the majority of Americans move from serving the private sector...

to serving the public/military sector.

[mmonk]

5. I don't know if that is actually possible

but as far as controlling the major expenditures, we are already there, especially as we are adding in contracting and the surveillance society.

[AntiFascist]

6. I agree, but I wonder if suddenly....

a lot of bankers and businessmen with few direct ties to these industries are beginning to wonder what is really happening?

[mmonk]

9. I don't know. I do know that we're at a real vulnerable time right now.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

17. That was my thought. And it scares me

with the Iraqi trained 1st Combat Brigade here, at Ft Stewart Ga., ready to be called to action on our own soil, and 10,000 Nat'l Guard controlled by Northland, ready to help them deploy the special, secret new weaponry, some of which surely includes some form of microwave tech... well I am having a hard time keeping happy and calm lately.

[kenny blankenship]

14. word!

[Greyhound]

7. That may be the plan, but it can't work. All military spending represents a net loss.

There is no payback, no appreciation of assets, it's rather like trying to earn a living by buying new cars at retail and selling them as used at wholesale.

Each deal eats capital and you only last as long as your capital.

[AntiFascist]

8. I would agree except....

where American hegemony also serves not only our own energy needs, but those of the world.

http://www.newamerica.net/publications/articles/2007/beyond_american_hegemony_5381

High levels of defense expenditures are not merely to overawe potential challengers...To again quote from the 1992 Defense Planning Guidance, "we must account sufficiently for the interests of the advanced industrial nations to discourage them from challenging our leadership or seeking to overturn the established political and economic order." Reassurance, the second prong of the hegemonic strategy, entails convincing major powers not to build up their military capabilities, allowing the United States to assume the burdens of ensuring their security instead.

...And the Persian Gulf War was, among other things, a reassurance war on behalf of Japan -- far more dependent on Persian Gulf oil than the United States -- confirmed by the fact that Japan paid a substantial portion of the United States’ costs in that conflict. Today, the great question is whether or not two other Asian giants -- India and China -- will eschew the development of true blue-water navies and continue to allow the United States to take responsibility for keeping the Gulf open.

[Greyhound]

12. Even accepting that premise, military spending is the least efficient

way to do this.

Our military, or MIC, is a black hole. There is no limit to how much we can pour into it and it will not return anything but death & destruction.

[gravity]

13. Not necessarily according to Keynes

The people who make their income from working for the military industrial complex can spend their money on other parts of the economy.

Although it would still be a lot more productive if we invested that money into infrastructure and education.

[Greyhound]

16. Of course they do, but what they earn is an insignificant factor of what is spent.

We would see better churn if we just wrote a check to those workers to not work. At least that way they would be making the same contribution to currency circulation without the attendant costs of what they produce.

The most relevant aspect is that what they are making has no economic value. Military material products only have two results, one, they are used and are a total loss, or two, they are stored for future use requiring additional expense (storage and security) and are eventually obsolete or are used, again resulting in a total loss with additional cost.

A road is used for decades and supports the entire community, a bullet is gone forever.

[KoKo]

10. Isn't Nukes, Bombs, Fighter Jets and the like the only thing we still build here in AMERIKA?

Seems likely.... We gotta keep those armaments going...to build up the "defenses of other countries" so our ECONOMY can keep going.

What happens when Average American finally figures out this Boondoggle? Meaning, the average Fox and other Cable TV viewers? Even PBS and C-Span Viewers. When this cat gets outta the bag...........gonna be interesting for the generations behind us, isn't it. :-( I say this sadly...but it's what it is.

Read Howard Zinn!

[Odin2005]

15. The millitary is how the Right does Keynesian economic stimulus without...

...threatening the economic power of their corporate masters.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

18. More info from Beaufort (SC) Gazette

A$612 billion defense bill passed both houses of Congress late last week, and included a 3.9-percent pay raise for military personnel, $70 billion for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and $3.2 billion for new military housing and tuition assistance. Additional legislation will be needed to appropriate the money.

The resolution, co-authored by Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., called for the recognition of"the success of the troop surge in Iraq and its strategic significance ... as a strategic victory in a central front of the war on terrorism."

In a statement, DeMint said the resolution was only part of the reason for his "no" vote, citing $5 billion in "secret earmarks," funding cuts for security forces' training and inflexibility for ground commanders as other factors.

The bill gave the Marine Corps more than $1.4 billion and $1.1 billion to the Navy and Marine Corps to spend on ammunition in the 2008-09 fiscal year, which began Wednesday and ends Sept. 30.

Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort and Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island rely on the federal funding, both for military construction projects and for the bases' general operating budgets.

Parris Island will receive $53.5 million in operational and maintenance funds this fiscal year, said Keith Bass, comptroller for the depot.

Bass said that figure does not include $52.7 million for the Eastern Recruiting Region or additional funds for military construction projects. In addition to being a basic training facility, the depot serves as the headquarters for the Corps' Eastern Recruiting Region, which encompasses Puerto Rico and the United States east of the Mississippi River.

Headquarters Marine Corps in Virginia declined to release information on scheduled military construction projects in South Carolina in the fiscal year until the bill was signed, and information on Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort's 2008-09 fiscal year operating budget was not made available.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

19. $350 Million for the 1st Combat Brigade, 3rd Infantry's homeland base

Oct 02, 2008
Defense Bill Passes; Ft. Stewart (Georgia)Gets $350 Million

The bill also includes the following Georgia specific funding:

$2.9 billion for 20 F-22A’s
$1.5 billion for seven AF Joint Strike Fighters
$508 million for six MC/HC-130J’s
$429 million for C-5 modernization
$1.4 billion for six Navy Joint Strike Fighters
$120 million for two KC-130J’s
$264 million for seven Joint Cargo Aircraft for the Army
$925 million for 63 UH-60 Blackhawk Helicopters for the Army
$81 million (R&D) and $30.7 million (Procurement) for JSTARS
$523M for long lead procurement for an additional 20 F-22’s in FY10
$5 million for Advanced Surface to Air Missile Hardware Simulator Development conducted by the Georgia Institute of Technology
$3.5 million for Range Element Network Enterprise Technology to benefit the Georgia National Guard
$2.0 million for Composite Tissue Transplantation for Combat Wound Repair to be performed by Emory University
$2.0 million for the Nanotechnology Manufacturing Center in Swainsboro, Ga.
$3.0 million for the Advanced Bio-Engineering enhancement of soldier survivability project to be conducted by the Georgia Institute of Technology
$2.0 million for Combat Arms Training Systems manufactured by Meggitt Training Systems in Suwanee, Ga.
$4 million for the C-130 Large Aircraft Countermeasures (LAIRCM) System which will benefit National Guard and Reserve C-130 units in Georgia
An additional $20 million in the Joint STARS budget to perform research and development related to integrating the MP-RTIP radar on a large aircraft, such as Joint STARS.
$2.0 million for Morehouse College Hopps Defense Research Scholars Program
$884.92 million in new military construction funding for Georgia, plus an additional $300M in BRAC and War-related military construction funding

http://www.thecreativecoast.org/savannahnews/view/1257-defense-bill-passes-ft-stewart-gets-350-million

[AntiFascist]

21. How much of that is intended for domestic military operations?

will "The South" rise again?

[eowyn_of_rohan]

27. Hard to tell, but nobody here seems to get it...

this $$$$$$$ might be used against us on our own turf

[unblock]

20. like george carlin said, it's the only thing we do well.

we can't teach our kids or build anything, but we can bomb the crap out of other countries!

specialization, ya know?

[Pavulon]

22. teeny amount

when compared to gdp and wealth generated from commerce.

[Bigmack]

23. 750 overseas bases...

2 1/2 million servicemembers worldwide...probably a Trillion bucks a year counting black ops and off-budget stuff and nuke stuff and Fatherland Security.

The US simply cannot maintain this empire... we can't afford it!

[rucky]

24. We're catching up with North Korea

[moodforaday]

25. K&R

:kick:

[eridani]

26. Hey, not just military!

We put each other in jail and sell each other cheap poisoned Chinese crap too! We are sooooooo diversified!

[AntiFascist]

28. kick for Sunday n/t

[AntiFascist]

29. Part II of Chalmers Johnson interview here...

http://therealnews.com/t/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=2494

He mentions the use of the military budget as an incredibly expensive jobs program and payment for weapons that are practically worthless.

[leftofthedial]

30. transitioning?

we've been there since Ike left office.

[Edweird]

31. Maybe military, fast food and porn.

Thanks to outsourcing and 'insourcing', there aren't many jobs left that can pay the bills.

[AntiFascist]

32. What's insourcing? n/t