The business of War

[blutzski]

A report by the Congressional Budget Office says that a fifth of spending on the Iraq war has gone to contractors.

Report: U.S. using contractors in Iraq at unprecedented rate - CNN.com

Where in our constitution does it allow my tax dollars to be transferred to corporations via undeclared wars?

[DurangoSteve]

War is big business. Just ask Dick Cheney.

I'm certain that Eisenhower had no idea just how crazy things would get when he referred to the "military-industrial complex" in 1961.

"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power." - Benito Mussolini.

Originally Posted by blutzski

A report by the Congressional Budget Office says that a fifth of spending on the Iraq war has gone to contractors.

Report: U.S. using contractors in Iraq at unprecedented rate - CNN.com

Where in our constitution does it allow my tax dollars to be transferred to corporations via undeclared wars?

[the_dude]

watch the documentary "why we fight" and see what you think about war being big business. eisenhower was spot on when he warned folks about the military industrial complex.

[El Flaco]

Bruno- If it'll make you feel better, you could look at it as "that's not our tax dollars". They don't have the tax revenue to cover the annual cost of the wars & other costs, so they're just printing money to pay for it. It's pretty much free to print money, right? So that $400B budget deficit applied to the war is not really your tax dollars- it's just a 'devaluation fee' we pay on any and everything we buy as the dollar continues to shit the bed in to the next decade. Yay!

Glad to offer a little sunshine to the conversation!!!


Plus- isn't it much better to pay a contracting company $150K a year to drive a truck, when we used to pay a private on the GI Bill less than $30K?

[Livingston]

Where in our constitution does it allow my tax dollars to be transferred to corporations via undeclared wars?

-Bruno

Stop throwing the constitution in my face, it's just a goddamn piece of paper

-Bush

Can't argue with that logic Bruno. Not my quote, but fitting, "There is no law, only power."

Tell Bobby good luck for me,
-d

[the_dude]

Originally Posted by El Flaco

Plus- isn't it much better to pay a contracting company $150K a year to drive a truck, when we used to pay a private on the GI Bill less than $30K?

sometimes empty trucks.....just to log the mileage to get paid.

[blutzski]

Ok, now you guys are just bumming me out. I'm gonna to go back to being ignorant now.

[DanOrion]

Originally Posted by El Flaco

it's just a 'devaluation fee' we pay on any and everything we buy as the dollar continues to shit the bed in to the next decade. Yay!

One of the big factors in high oil prices that goes unmentioned is the collapse of the American dollar. And why did the dollar get so hammered during the past year? Well, in part due to the US governments massive budget deficit (due to an unfunded war) and realization that the only way that the US would get out of this hole is by devaluing our currency.
Iraq War = High Oil Prices in $ terms. Bastards

[heliodorus04]

Anyone see McSame's quote on Russia-Georgia today?
Something like "In the 21st century, countries don't go invading other countries."

You can't make this stuff up.

[the_dude]

sadly, however, people still believe the same ol' shit spoonfed to them by idiots like mccain.