tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16816866.post1876070656106491280..comments2024-02-29T02:10:56.878-08:00Comments on J O S H U A P U N D I T: Obama's Latest - A $5 Billion Train to Las Vegas From NowhereFreedom Fighterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13649470110087808596noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16816866.post-18018877804610295072012-03-27T09:21:37.823-07:002012-03-27T09:21:37.823-07:00Clearly a bankrupt country with an economy that is...Clearly a bankrupt country with an economy that is in the doldrums like the situation that America faces right now cannot afford this project even if it were practical which it does not appear to be. At some point the maddness stops becuase the lenders are not going to fund it anymore. In any event, the Russians, Chinese, and other major world powers have got to be laughing hysterically at us.<br /><br />There are at least four better ways to spend money than on this project that will yield great benefits to us. 1.)Increase border security personnel and equipment. This gives us greater utility for our security interests than any thing we are currently doing. 2.)Develop all of our oil and gas reserves and build more refineries. This has the advantage of both helping our national security interests and improving our economy. 3.)Our infrastructure is crumbling. Major work needs to be done to the highway system, the waste management systems, and the utility grid and delivery systems. 4.)From continuing operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere over the last ten years the US Army and Marine Corps is broken to the point that basic national defense is problematic at best. These branches of the military need to be rebuilt from the ground up. Furthermore the Navy and the Air Force are facing a backlog of tired and worn down equipment from these operations and the equipment it does have is technologically outdated when compared with adversaries and potential adversaries. Essentially the US military needs to be rebuilt to meet America's basic defense needs. <br /><br />Obviously rebuilding the miliary will be tremendously expensive, however, we can offset some of these costs by redeploying our forces to defensible positions along our borders and off our coasts. Additional cost savings can be realized by cutting out much of the Pentagon bueracracy who has fancy titles, fat salaries, and fat pensions but contributes little to nothing to America's national defense. Essentially the Pentagon like other government agencies is top heavy with highly paid beuracrats who don't contribute based upon what they are paid. Government agencies across ALL levels must take a haircut. The Pentagon is no different.<br /><br />Since the government cutbacks are inevitable, the question is do we take a proactive approach and deal constructively with this now or do we wait until the creditors force these cutbacks on us? If the cutbacks are forced on us by the creditors, we may or not be able to do this in such a way that our interests can be properly represented. This should be kept in mind.B.Posternoreply@blogger.com