THAT REALLY CHAFES MY BUTT!

THAT REALLY CHAFES MY BUTT!

(Paul Szoldra, Business of Federal Technology, NDIA, Military Families)

(For the Common Defense, Frazer Chronicle)

 

Thought I’d take a ride on the wild side today, and run with the fat cats, the big dogs, and those folks who have the most to lose if the governmental sequestration plans don’t take effect, or are somehow tempered by public outcry or sentiment. I’ll tell you right up front, the people and organizations that I am quoting are stone assed Americans, the kind of people who just might have a sign in front of their house that reads, “America…..love it or leave it.”

 

These folks and their organizations are what I’d call ridged about their beliefs, people who the Pentagon and some in the White House would call true patriots. People like me on the other hand would simply dismiss these people as brain washed, and in need of getting a real life. That attitude would however be wrong and actually be dangerous to the life that we now enjoy.

 

Imagine if you will for a few moments that the United States was in a constant war…..like we have been for more than 10 years. A portion of our economy and our young people are dependent on some sort of military conflict for their survival each and every day. I know that sounds a bit Orwellian, but if people take a long, honest and unabashed look at what’s going on, it seems pretty damn clear to me that we have been programmed to need war, or conflict.

 

I’ve blogged about the sequester, I’ve blogged about war, military conflict, and the dependence that the United States has to survive. I’ve blogged about those narrow ranges of people that gain in the long run by military conflict, or outright war.

 

Our political leaders have waged war in a fashion where we aren’t affected by it…..in fact a previous President said to “Go out, catch a movie, live your life like nothing is going on, like there is no war.” So we did, and now we are paying for that bungled attitude.

 

All sorts of people on foreign soil have died, guilty as well as innocent, men, women, and children. We have used all sorts of cruel war machines that have killed, maimed and disembowel people, and when some general addresses the fact that we aren’t winning the hearts and minds of the people, he sounds shocked, and can’t imagine what the problem is.

 

We are now in the first stages of addressing the one great tragedy from our war like ways, it is a fact that had to come, and that had to be addressed. We can’t afford to make war in the wholesale way that we have, the coffers are dry, there isn’t any more ink to print our currency that is becoming more and more like Monopoly money, you didn’t really believe that those bogus looking $50 and $100 bills were real…..did you!

 

And here’s the part that really chafes my ass, there is a percentage, a rather large percentage that feels like we need to go on using the same practices, following the same attitudes, and really believing that there will be a better outcome in the end.

 

These are the real dangerous people, these people, left to their own devises, who would sacrifice the union for their beliefs. These people are the real enemies of the United States, these people talk about proud generations of military service, and the glory of the missions. These people need to be quarantined on a tropical island, where they survive on food drops and medicine for their mal-adjusted behaviors. These people can’t be trusted, can’t be rehabilitated, and can never be allowed to gain a political office.

 

ATTENTION…..AT EASE! HOW THE SEQUESTER MIGHT WORK!

That’s right, we are in a rough spot right now, kind of like a make or break situation, we need to, as a people, reach down and examine who we are, and what we stand for. We have been at war for ten years and a bit more, during that time several thousand Americans have been lost. Sadly more important than the dead are those victims that are physically impaired, or have a mental disability that is harder to see or find.

 

These people, back from the war need medical and mental treatment, and they need the treatment in a timely fashion…..no backlog of paperwork, or waiting lists, their treatment is way too important. How might the sequester work with this cost, unless we have the returning troops as a stateside priority, somebody please tell me what good is the military action overseas when we can’t afford to care for returning service men and women!

 

Prioritizing is of paramount importance whenever generals and other war management personnel get together for the initial planning for a war or military conflict. The break-down is relatively simple, and goes something like this:

A). Operations and Maintenance funds, according to several reports, these funds are used among other programs to train state-side military personnel for deployment to war zones, a sequester would stop as much as 80% of that training.

B). Forces in Afghanistan may be struck there for longer tours of duties, and if there not, and the available funds are directed to the troops in Afghanistan, how are the boys and girls state-side going to get trained?

C). What about military health care, would a sequester, stop troop health insurance and their dependents.

D). Pink slips everywhere, downsizing the military by as much as 200,000 from the military, and the civilian pink slippers will flood the job market if the sequester takes hold as Democrats say it will.

E). Reduction in missions Army, Navy, Air force and Marine’s, to my way of thinking, a good thing, but it will mean standing weapons and machinery.

F). Big weapons programs will be dropped, again a good thing to my way of thinking, but pink slips for many Americans.

G). Funds for service, gasoline, diesel, bullets, bombs and a host of other war making equipment will cease, or be gutted by 30-40, or 50%, again, pink slips for military as well as civilian.

H). Military personnel and families will be hit first and worst, and again, sadly, to my way of thinking a good thing.

 

WHEN A COUNTRY DEPENDS ON MILITARY STRIFE

Whenever a country depends on part of its G.D.P. derived from military conflict, there is the possibility that a war will end, and the military won’t be as necessary as during a war. For military people, ending a war must be one of those worst case scenarios that people in high places talk about.

 

The movers and shakers, the Captains of industry, and some in political circles probably fear winning a war almost as much as losing one. For many companies and communities, the life blood of their existence depends on the United States not winning a war. With the celebration of winning also comes a death null for defense contract workers,

 

Did you really ever take a look at a government military contract…..I have, and the findings are rather chafing to my butt. It’s really weird when you think about how a military contract is awarded, and the process that they, Pentagon, goes through.

 

They, the Pentagon, first must get approval from Congress after thousands of hours or work on a project, to even think about letting bids out to private contractors. The bids are usually sealed, so we never know which bid was actually the lowest.

 

Once bids are let, and one approved, production begins on whatever new devise the military desires. There are schedules, time limits, and all sorts of expiration dates that need to be worried about, and of course the always underling worry that a particular military conflict will be over before the project is completed. Of course this happens a lot of time, and the end result is simply mothballed for some later conflict.

 

Through the entire process one simple fact is completely overlooked, that fact…..we are paying taxes so that we can pay ourselves. Oh sure, economists won’t agree, and others will label me as a crack-pot or a dumb S.O.B. and talk about how naïve a way to look at things…..but it doesn’t alter the fact that what I’m saying is true, without tax dollars there would be no government contracts…..of any kind.

 

OSHKOSH ‘B’ GOSHED!

Oshkosh, Wisconsin is losing 900 employees that make good money producing the fabled Oshkosh Trucks for the military. The financial impact to the community of around 80,000 in north central Wisconsin will be close to a billion dollars…..and according to the truck company, none of these jobs will be coming back anytime soon.

 

It’s an example of a city’s economy relying on military contracts for a big part of its livelihood, with the contract done; a big segment of the city’s work force will scramble to find reasonable employment. Not only will the worker suffer with the probable lower wage, but his family, his neighbor and his community will suffer. This is the down-side of governmental contract work.

 

What can be done…..I don’t have a clue, are you crazy, I value my life, answering that question, or even making a suggestion would probably be like signing one’s own death warrant, I may be dull, but I’m not that dull.

 

HAVE A NICE DAY!