When I first heard
news that
Bush administration was going to be closing military bases I was initially gleeful. The prospects of disillusioned Republicans danced in my head. I imagined all
thousands of service men and woman who bought into
Bush bullshit finding out that
guy they thought they knew had just indefinitely relieved them. I thought back to all
comments by all
pinhead conservatives who tried to paint Kerry as
anti-defense candidate. "He voted against this piece of hardware and this billion dollar gadget that's guaranteed to kill thousands. Oh,
horror!"
The horror indeed. I remember looking at
records of
dark lord Cheney when he was a congressman, and Powell and Bush I back in
day when they were championing
"peace dividend" and advocating cuts in
military that were much deeper than what Kerry voted against. I know
hypocrisy and thought that now
predominantly Republican military would find out
truth.
Then reason kicked me in
head. No news is ever good news, with Bush loose. Sure they're saying that we're going to save $48 billion dollars over 20 years but my question is where are they going to spend
savings. After all this "conservative" President is
most spendthrift commander-in-thief this country has ever known.
Let me take a couple of guesses. How about battle-field nuclear weapons, or maybe
fantasy program that continues under
assumption that it's wise to spend trillions of dollars in
stratosphere for a sci-fi wet dream known as "Star Wars" targeted at stopping Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles?(It's a dream because if it ain't 100% perfect it don't matter) Or better yet, another war or Republican directed government waste that funnels off profit to private companies at
expense of
taxpayers? After all they are Republicans and this is your money we're talking about.
Another thing struck me as odd. Isn't it strange that there is only going to be a savings of $48 billion over 20 years when they're proposing
closing of 180 bases and we spend well over $400 billion a year on
military? I mean where is all
rest of
money going. That's only $13,333,333.34 dollars per base, per year. We spent $420.7 billion on
military last year not including
expenditures for Iraq and Afghanistan (don't get me started). So where did
rest of
$418.3 billion go?
If I'm doing my math correctly and assuming that
military budget stays at
present amount over
next 20 years that means that we'll spend well over $8 trillion protecting this great nation (by
way we kicked King George's ass without a standing army or navy and more recently got our asses kicked not once but twice by 3rd world nations).
$48 billion is like .6% of
total budget.
Let me say that again:
The budgets for 180 bases for
next 20 years equals .6 (YES THAT'S POINT 6) %(PERCENT) of
total military budget.
So my question is where is all
rest of
$7,952,000,000,000 (SEVEN TRILLION, NINE-HUNDRED AND FIFTY-TWO BILLION DOLLARS) going to be spent if it's not being spent on military bases?
Chew on that but here's
list of where it's not going to be spent:
Alaska Kulis Air Guard Station
Arizona Air Force Research Lab, Mesa Allen Hall Armed Forces Reserve Center, Tucson
Arkansas El Dorado Armed Forces Reserve Center Stone U.S. Army Reserve Center, Pine Bluff
California Armed Forces Reserve Center Bell Defense Finance and Accounting Service, Oakland Defense Finance and Accounting Service, San Bernardino Defense Finance and Accounting Service, San Diego Defense Finance and Accounting Service, Seaside Naval Support Activity Corona Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach, Detachment Concord Navy-Marine Corps Reserve Center, Encino Navy-Marine Corps Reserve Center, Los Angeles Onizuka Air Force Station Riverbank Army Ammunition Plant
Connecticut Sgt. Libby U.S. Army Reserve Center, New Haven Submarine Base New London Turner U.S. Army Reserve Center, Fairfield U.S. Army Reserve Center Maintenance Support Facility, Middletown
Delaware Kirkwood U.S. Army Reserve Center, Newark
Florida Defense Finance and Accounting Service, Orlando Navy Reserve Center, St. Petersburg
Georgia Fort Gillem Fort McPherson Inspector/Instructor, Rome Naval Air Station Atlanta Naval Supply Corps School, Athens U.S. Army Reserve Center, Columbus
Hawaii Army National Guard Reserve Center, Honokaa
Idaho Navy Reserve Center, Pocatello
Illinois Armed Forces Reserve Center, Carbondale Navy Reserve Center, Forest Park
Indiana Navy Marine Corps Reserve Center, Grissom Air Reserve Base, Bunker Hill Navy Recruiting District Headquarters, Indianapolis Navy Reserve Center, Evansville Newport Chemical Depot U.S. Army Reserve Center, Lafayette U.S. Army Reserve Center, Seston
Iowa Navy Reserve Center, Cedar Rapids Navy Reserve Center, Sioux City Navy-Marine Corps Reserve Center, Dubuque
Kansas Kansas Army Ammunition Plant
Kentucky Army National Guard Reserve Center, Paducah Defense Finance and Accounting Service, Lexington Navy Reserve Center, Lexington U.S. Army Reserve Center, Louisville U.S. Army Reserve Center, Maysville