Pima
10-Year Member
- Joined
- Nov 28, 2007
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Here is an article that illustrates why cutting a program is not so easy.
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-02-25/five-military-cuts-that-would-fix-sequestration
Now read page 2.
That is the honest truth. Anyway you cut it the DOD's budget as bloated as it is has an impact on almost every state. In this current economy with @7.9% unemployment, housing market just starting to show signs of recovery, furloughing 800K DoD employees in towns like Fayetteville, NC will impact the economy. 25% pay cut for 5 months will impact paying mtgs., thus housing, It will trickle down to impact restaurants, retail, etc. It will stagnate the growth of the economy, and when you rely on tax rate hikes to pick up the difference regarding revenue, it is hard to do when the cuts impact everyone. Take the GS's next yr taxable income it will be lower, they will contribute less to the revenue they are expecting. Take those that depend on discretionary income, they will have less profits.
Sequestration will stop the kicking the can regarding debt ceiling, but it will impact us again next yr. because those taxes that many believe will solve the problem won't be there to use.
What will be there is consumer confidence in a decline. A new hit for housing, and automakers. A hit for retailers and restaurants. A hit for investing.
It has to happen, but I think most people are fooling their selves believing it will never impact them personally.
A study was done in No VA. The results were that every household would know at least 1 person connected to them impacted. I am sure Ft. Bragg that is going to be true too, same with towns like Goldsboro NC, and Minot ND.
Hold on to your seats this is going to be a very bumpy ride, especially with the rise of gas prices and food too!
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-02-25/five-military-cuts-that-would-fix-sequestration
1. Ground the glitch-ridden F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program. The F-35 was supposed to produce state-of-the-art stealth jets. It is seven years behind schedule and 70 percent over cost estimates. At almost $400 billion, the F-35 has become the most expensive weapons system in U.S. history and one that offers only marginal improvements over existing aircraft, according to Barry Blechman, co-founder of the Stimson Center, a nonprofit policy institute in Washington. (On Friday, the Pentagon grounded its nascent 51-plane fleet of F-35s after discovering a cracked engine blade in one jet.) The F-35 is “worth killing, particularly given its technical problems,” Blechman said. “Putting the F-35 into production years before the first flight test was acquisition malpractice,” Frank Kendall, the Pentagon’s acquisition undersecretary, said in February 2012. So, um, let’s do something about it, Frank.
Now read page 2.
Why is sensible military budgeting so difficult? Because lawmakers, including small-government Republicans, protect defense business in their home states with the ferocity of Spartans. Even if the Pentagon offered up the cuts we’ve outlined here, Congress would almost certainly reject them. The senators and representatives don’t have the political courage to face voters and tell them that the republic simply does not need the weapon under construction in their hometown.
Consider the F-35. Primarily made by Lockheed Martin (LMT), the plane has 1,300 suppliers in 45 states supporting 133,000 jobs, according to Lockheed. “It’s got a lot of political protection,” according to Winslow Wheeler, director of the Project on Government Oversight’s Center for Defense Information in Washington. “Very, very few members of Congress are willing to say this is an unaffordable dog and we need to get rid of it.”
So rather than making strategic spending reductions that might produce a leaner, more effective military, sequestration will result in fewer pilot training hours and under-prepared soldiers. The generals light their hair on fire, and lawmakers protect the pork. Ah, democracy.
That is the honest truth. Anyway you cut it the DOD's budget as bloated as it is has an impact on almost every state. In this current economy with @7.9% unemployment, housing market just starting to show signs of recovery, furloughing 800K DoD employees in towns like Fayetteville, NC will impact the economy. 25% pay cut for 5 months will impact paying mtgs., thus housing, It will trickle down to impact restaurants, retail, etc. It will stagnate the growth of the economy, and when you rely on tax rate hikes to pick up the difference regarding revenue, it is hard to do when the cuts impact everyone. Take the GS's next yr taxable income it will be lower, they will contribute less to the revenue they are expecting. Take those that depend on discretionary income, they will have less profits.
Sequestration will stop the kicking the can regarding debt ceiling, but it will impact us again next yr. because those taxes that many believe will solve the problem won't be there to use.
What will be there is consumer confidence in a decline. A new hit for housing, and automakers. A hit for retailers and restaurants. A hit for investing.
It has to happen, but I think most people are fooling their selves believing it will never impact them personally.
A study was done in No VA. The results were that every household would know at least 1 person connected to them impacted. I am sure Ft. Bragg that is going to be true too, same with towns like Goldsboro NC, and Minot ND.
Hold on to your seats this is going to be a very bumpy ride, especially with the rise of gas prices and food too!