Ed Flaherty
Address our Fiscal Crises—Reduce Military Spending
Another government shut-down and debt ceiling crisis are on the horizon. Senator Grassley is a member of the conference committee charged with submitting formal budget recommendations by December 13.
Senator Grassley knows, as does every other member of Congress and every economist, that a dollar spent on the military creates far fewer jobs than a dollar spent in education, alternative energy or infrastructure. He knows that the Pentagon has never been audited. He knows that military spending constitutes over one-half of federal discretionary spending, and is fraught with waste. He knows that the U.S. spends more on military than the next ten largest-spending countries combined.
Senator Grassley should listen to what he already knows. He must insist that a substantial reduction in military spending be the first step in addressing our fiscal crises.
We must insist that he listen to what he already knows.
[BFIA Action alert: Contact Grassley]
Blog For Iowa 
There is so much waste at DOD. I know. I worked for DOD for almost ten years. I was a Public Affairs officer (civilian) for the Air Force at a large training and military administrative center in Texas. I was also the “go to” person for events on base. There were rarely restrictive budgets for events, including Armed Forces week, retirement and transfer events for commanders and general officers, and visits of foreign dignitaries. For one event, for a three-star general, I had three jet trainers moved to the lawn of the Officer’s Club, borrowed space suits and other displays from NASA that were flown from Houston, and had a 3/4 sized hot air balloon flying over the club. The guest of honor arrived in a rented 1920 Rolls Royce. And on and on. Plus dinner and dancing with a full orchestra. No cost was spared for “one of our own” at the highest ranks. That was just one event. I did about 12 or fifteen each year. Now, I spend time buying back my Karma.
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It’s not that Senator Grassley is opposed to gutting the Social Security system to pay trillions of dollars in the quest of killing hundreds-of-thousands of foreigners for no benefit – other than to pay homage to evil. Grassley has proven he is for that with his 37-year record. It’s that Senator Grassley knows that the money for the agricultural boondoggles he’s got going has to come from somewhere in an already-crimpted deficit budget.
The answer for Senator Grassley is to abuse his Senate power in launching another witch hunt on a competitor for taxpayer dollars. He is just feathering his own nest.
From 1995 through 2012 government subsidies to millionaire farmers cost American taxpayers $292.5 billion. During that same time the out-of-treasury amount paid by taxpayers for farmers profit insurance was $59,302,692,917 according to the Environmental Working Group database EWG.ORG. In that, 10 percent of farm businesses received 54 percent of all insurance subsidies in 2011; and the top 10% of the richest aggregate businesses got 70% of the subsidy dollars.
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