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2008-11-17 Home Front: WoT

Obama urged to scrap some Pentagon programs

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Posted by Besoeker 2008-11-17 07:18|| || Front Page|| [4 views ] Top

#1 If he starts with anything in Murtha's district then he might have cover, otherwise it just punishment.

Posted by Procopius2k 2008-11-17 09:25|| 2008-11-17 09:25|| Front Page Top

#2 prime targets would probably include the new F-35 fighter jet, a series of navy ship programs, and a massive army project to build a new generation of ground combat vehicles, all of which have been skyrocketing in cost and suffering long development delays.

Sounds like he's got the right targets in his sight.

Posted by Nimble Spemble 2008-11-17 10:35|| 2008-11-17 10:35|| Front Page Top

#3 Maybe this is exactly what the Pentagon needs - a wakeup call that they must be more responsible and accurate with their budget forcasts and appropriations. Its hard to argue against keeping these programs when taking in account how far over budget and how far behind schedule they are. If I ran my job like that, I would be fired. They should be too.

Posted by Yosemite Sam 2008-11-17 11:21|| 2008-11-17 11:21|| Front Page Top

#4 Thats the Army's FCS program. Cut that and we cut our own throats -- the initial products of that program are some of what gives individual soldiers more mobility, survivability and lethality these days.

Cutting a lot of these now is the wrong thing - most have gone through the "R&D" phase, which is costly and produces few tangible goods.

Canceling now would be like cutting down the tree just before it begins to bear fruit.

Instead, lets drop the duplication, like the extra drug-task-force HQ in PA, unneeded bases in S. Korea and Europe, etc.

Posted by OldSpook 2008-11-17 11:22|| 2008-11-17 11:22|| Front Page Top

#5 That would be too logical, OS. The Big O is ideologically driven. Only thing is that certain congress critters are local defense economics driven, so this will be a dem on dem fight. Ideology be damned. It will come down to greed and self interest in Congressional districts, which will be, in a perverted way, self preservation.

Maybe.....

Posted by Alaska Paul 2008-11-17 11:35|| 2008-11-17 11:35|| Front Page Top

#6 Remember that bureaucrats, military ones included, have as rule #1 that when budget cuts are threatened, offer to cut the meat first and leave the fat.

In this case, this means first go after the largest pork projects supported by the most powerful senators and congressmen.

Then say you have to cut the department of "not throwing sacks of kittens into the river", even if this means that grandmothers across the country will riot.

Military bureaucrats also let contractors know when somebody is threatening their product, so they can get their lobbyists working full steam to save it. The contractors also let the union know, so they can apply pressure to keep their jobs.

I think this is how it has been done since the days of the ancient Etruscans. Probably a millennium earlier.

Posted by Anonymoose 2008-11-17 12:53|| 2008-11-17 12:53|| Front Page Top

#7 Why doesn't it surprise mean that a spittle-spewing Muzzie doesn't like Dracula?

Posted by Mike N. 2008-11-17 13:05|| 2008-11-17 13:05|| Front Page Top

#8 "Justice" is back

Posted by g(r)omgoru 2008-11-17 13:06|| 2008-11-17 13:06|| Front Page Top

#9 But I know BETTER. These Rantburg type fanatics will remain

That's right, we'll remain just long enough to shove it squarely up your goat buggering arss. Now run along will you, it's nearly prayer time. Don't you have sister that's offending your honor or something....?

Posted by Besoeker 2008-11-17 13:46|| 2008-11-17 13:46|| Front Page Top

#10 JUSTICE for Obama 2008 - I cant tell from your ridiculous post whether you are being sarcastic or not. Either way your post was a huge "FAIL"

Posted by Yosemite Sam 2008-11-17 14:12|| 2008-11-17 14:12|| Front Page Top

#11 Technical question: is Justice advocating jailing people for their political opinions because he is an intolerant muslim or because he is an intolerant leftist?

Posted by SteveS 2008-11-17 14:14|| 2008-11-17 14:14|| Front Page Top

#12 How queer -- it's Monday night in Saudi Arabia. Perhaps they are having a school holiday.

JUSTICE dear, ask your American friend what it means that John McCain is still a senior member of the US Senate, ie. of the upper house of Congress. Also ask him what will happen if President Obama does not fix America's little economic situation before Congressional elections in 2010. For that matter, you might want to think what it will mean over the next two years for you and your country should oil sales continue their current trends in re volume and pricing.

I look forward to hearing from you again when you have completed these assignments.

Posted by trailing wife ">trailing wife 2008-11-17 14:17|| 2008-11-17 14:17|| Front Page Top

#13 Justice, whatever you think, it's good to know you'll get your Moon-god ass spanked well and truly. I would say that the Big O has got justice through Democracy, so how about trying a REAL nym like "Justice for Girl-School-Splodeys", or "Female-Genital-Mutilation/Stoning-to-Deathers", I am sure you have their concerns at heart.
You will find, if you read the above comments, that a fair few agree with the proposed cuts; that is what is called Well Reasoned Discourse, try it someday.
As an aside, if I may just point out that every where Muslims are in the world, there is Trouble, just can't get along, can you, strange that. I asked Allan why that was, and he just said it's an in-bred goat thing, can't be helped.
Anyway, prayers must be nearly over by now, go blow up a market place or something.

Posted by fever (Formerly R-fever) 2008-11-17 14:25|| 2008-11-17 14:25|| Front Page Top

#14 The Air Force and the Navy need to be brought under adult supervision. If we just kept buying F-16s and Arliegh Burkes instead of F-35s and DDXs (or, God help us, CGXs) I would applaud it as wise policy.

Posted by Plastic Snoopy 2008-11-17 14:31|| 2008-11-17 14:31|| Front Page Top

#15 Vigilance is eternal there justice and we have a long memory! We suffered Carter and Clinton. We will survive Obama and come out a stronger nation in the end. And you, you will be the same bitter and backward human being your ancestors were before the first Crusade.

Posted by 49 Pan">49 Pan 2008-11-17 14:38|| 2008-11-17 14:38|| Front Page Top

#16 Well, it's only natural for Justice to dislike Dracula, considering that Dracula is supposed to be Vlad the impaler. And what does Vlad do with the lions of islam? Shove a tree trunk up their ass and eat lunch while they die slowly.

A return of Vlad the Impaler sounds like a wonderful idea to me. Cept he needs to broaden his outlook to include the demonrat party.

Posted by Silentbrick">Silentbrick 2008-11-17 15:53|| 2008-11-17 15:53|| Front Page Top

#17 "Everything takes longer and costs more."
-- Cheops' Law

Posted by mojo">mojo 2008-11-17 16:05|| 2008-11-17 16:05|| Front Page Top

#18 PS, the Air Force procurement system has been well and truly hosed since the AF designated program management as a career specialty and started training "professional" program managers. Consequently programs are now managed by officers (and civilians) inured to the arcana of the sea of laws and regulations governing military procurement but with absolutely no experience in using the equipment whose development and production they oversee. Consequently the services field (or more often than not fail to field) overpriced, unreliable, ineffective excrement that is unusable by the troops but makes some congressmen happy. The bigger the program, the more removed from reality the PM is. It isn't going to get better any time soon.

The AF is on a going out of business curve.

Posted by RWV 2008-11-17 16:55|| 2008-11-17 16:55|| Front Page Top

#19 Vampires and djinns and cockroaches oh my!

This allegory of mice and lions is about as predictable as a smurf cartoon. Umm, Vlad and Spartan/Greek comparisons? Are you sure bout that? Get to the Poitiers goofball; rub that monkey paw and get your Tamerlane.

Posted by swksvolFF 2008-11-17 17:51|| 2008-11-17 17:51|| Front Page Top

#20 Vlad the Impaler in 2012!

Posted by CrazyFool 2008-11-17 18:35|| 2008-11-17 18:35|| Front Page Top

#21 and Eugene used to be a nice place with good people, my how times have changed....

Posted by Jan at work 2008-11-17 18:54|| 2008-11-17 18:54|| Front Page Top

#22 I kinda sympathize with some of the comments here about some of the newest priciest stuff getting delayed or reduced. I admit I'm not nearly as much up on hardware issues as in days of yore, but it seems we're having good results with current gear and I've been worrying about the numbers/price/capabilities trade-off for some time for major systems. I mean, no matter how magical an F-35 might be in the air, it's gotta be somewhere the action is, and there have to be enough to cover those action spots. Likewise with ships (ahemm, Horn of Africa/Gulf of Aden AO). Plus - are most of the new cutting edge capabilities essentially unused on most of our current august adversaries? Who's gonna play with F-22s or F-35s?

Posted by Verlaine 2008-11-17 23:44|| 2008-11-17 23:44|| Front Page Top

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