USA - The Good Samaritan

[enchanted_one1975]

Then what of the aid workers being sent to Haiti with this money? Are they not earning their pay as well? Or do you feel that your military service is somehow more valuable than humanitarian aid? If so, please enlighten me as to why.

I am not saying aid workers should not be paid. However, the whole effort should be funded by donations and not my tax dollars.

 

[KatNotKathy]

I am not saying soldiers should not be paid. However, the whole effort should be funded by donations and not my tax dollars.

Funny how that works...

I never consented to engaging in multiple wars overseas, so why are MY TAX DOLLARS(!) being spent paying guys to shoot people I have no beef with? Why couldn't they have just funded your job through donations?

 

[enchanted_one1975]

Funny how that works...

I never consented to engaging in multiple wars overseas, so why are MY TAX DOLLARS(!) being spent paying guys to shoot people I have no beef with? Why couldn't they have just funded your job through donations?

Because a military force is necessary to every populous. Don't worry though. All of our entertainment and extras were donated.

 

[KatNotKathy]

Because a military force is necessary to every populous. Don't worry though. All of our entertainment and extras were donated.

I'm sure we could argue all day on the necessity of a military force as large as ours. Sorry dude, but you were probably part of the "extras".

I'm open to compromise though. If we were to trim a good $100 million from the military to help Haiti here, I'd be all for that. It wouldn't be any extra debt, and the money would be going to a good cause (and god knows we need it if we ever want to stop looking like supervillians).

 

[enchanted_one1975]

I'm sure we could argue all day on the necessity of a military force as large as ours. Sorry dude, but you were probably part of the "extras".

I'm open to compromise though. If we were to trim a good $100 million from the military to help Haiti here, I'd be all for that. It wouldn't be any extra debt, and the money would be going to a good cause (and god knows we need it if we ever want to stop looking like supervillians).

Where do you want to trim it from? Most of our enlisted men are so underpaid they they qualify for food stamps. See, you have to look at the whole picture before you start trying to tell people how to run things. Besides, your buddy Obama is just printing the money for Haiti so we don't have to trim it from anywhere. That makes everyone that has any stake in the US lose. Of course I don't expect you to understand the simple economics and consequences of endlessly printing currency with no backing.

 

[Falvlun]

Where do you want to trim it from? Most of our enlisted men are so underpaid they they qualify for food stamps. See, you have to look at the whole picture before you start trying to tell people how to run things.

The whole picture? Interesting how the only thing you think of that can be trimmed would be military personnel pay. How about $100 million from "Future Combat System". Research and Development is slated to get $79.1 billion this year alone. That single program is receiving $3.3 billion. Yeah. I think the military could trim $100 million and never even miss it.

 

[Amill]

I think people would be fine with your argument against printing endless amounts of money to throw at problems. The hilarity is that you picked out the Haiti disaster where the money is going towards providing food, clean water, and medicine to people who may otherwise perish without it.

Because a military force is necessary to every populous. Don't worry though. All of our entertainment and extras were donated.

Where did they say a military force wasn't necessary? I think they were trying to say that these WARS were unnecessary, not having a military.

Feel free to max every credit card you have with cash advances, take out a bunch of small loans, give the money to the Red Cross, and then file bankruptcy. At least it will be your choice to do so.

Cuz my life aint worth jack, I'd rather finish my education and provide more help than I could by just giving a little bit of change.

 

[Alceste]

My military income has never been a handout. I earned every penny and I earned every meal.

But every penny paid to you by the government was borrowed, and the war you fought in was a completely unnecessary waste of money and lives. As a taxpayer you (and your children and grandchildren) are going to have to pay it all back. But you're only getting upset now that the US is trying to do something nice for a change: save lives instead of take them... for a little bit of spare change. 33 cents worth.

I'm all for complaining, but you're complaining about the wrong stuff, IMO, and you should take some responsibility for your own part in this mess. You took your army paychecks, therefore you are part of the problem.

 

[Ba'al]

I posted this awhile back from Quantum Life Bodyworks but I think it's relevant to this thread so I'll do it again for EnchantedOne to see. The US spent 1.473 trillion in 2008 on their military.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Where do you want to trim it from? Most of our enlisted men are so underpaid they they qualify for food stamps.

How about they recover it from the defense contractors that received $10.7 billion in overpayments, duplicate payments, and payments to fictitious companies?

And once Haiti's paid for, you can put the rest toward those enlisted men or paying down some of the debt.

 

[Aquitaine]

How about they recover it from the defense contractors that received

$10.7 billion in overpayments, duplicate payments, and payments to fictitious companies?

And once Haiti's paid for, you can put the rest toward those enlisted men or paying down some of the debt.

Halliburton have aparently been ripping off the Federal Government for millions too, I watched an interesting video about it on YouTube a while back, lemme see if I can find it........... here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chXjCtkymRQ

I have a relative in Iraq as we speak, and he tells me that a former subsidiary of Halliburton; KBR are practically running the entire base at where he's stationed, no doubt they'll be ripping the Governments off too.

Also, the Vice President of the Bush Administration, Mr. D(5-Deferements) Cheney, where did he work again as a CEO before joining the Bush (W) Administration?

Oh yeah and where did Condolezza Rice work before joining the Administration?

 

[Alceste]

Halliburton have aparently been ripping off the Federal Government for millions too, I watched an interesting video about it on YouTube a while back, lemme see if I can find it........... here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chXjCtkymRQ

I have a relative in Iraq as we speak, and he tells me that a former subsidiary of Halliburton; KBR are practically running the entire base at where he's stationed, no doubt they'll be ripping the Governments off too.

Also, the Vice President of the Bush Administration, Mr. D(5-Deferements) Cheney, where did he work again as a CEO before joining the Bush (W) Administration?

Oh yeah and where did Condolezza Rice work before joining the Administration?

Careful, Paul, if you start pointing out that the Bush administration basically represented a complete takeover of the American government by the military-industrial complex and the finance industry people will start accusing you of being a conspiracy theorist. Doesn't matter how true it happens to be.

 

[enchanted_one1975]

The whole picture? Interesting how the only thing you think of that can be trimmed would be military personnel pay. How about $100 million from "Future Combat System". Research and Development is slated to get $79.1 billion this year alone. That single program is receiving $3.3 billion. Yeah. I think the military could trim $100 million and never even miss it.

Hey let's cancel those programs altogether so other nations can have superior combat technology and tactics. That way we won't be able to put up a fight and it will be cheaper in the long run. Our nation's defense is not the place to cut corners. Would you put off replacing a door that had been kicked in during a home invasion, further risking your family's safety, because you wanted to give the money to your unemployed neighbor instead?

Cuz my life aint worth jack, I'd rather finish my education and provide more help than I could by just giving a little bit of change.

Hey, that reasoning is fine. Why don't we fix our economy now though and help Haiti later? They can wait until we can afford to give them a billion dollars instead of $100 Million the same way that others charities will have to wait for you to finish school so that you can donate more later instead of a little now. See, your analogy only reinforces my arguments. Thank you.

But every penny paid to you by the government was borrowed, and the war you fought in was a completely unnecessary waste of money and lives. As a taxpayer you (and your children and grandchildren) are going to have to pay it all back. But you're only getting upset now that the US is trying to do something nice for a change: save lives instead of take them... for a little bit of spare change. 33 cents worth.

I'm all for complaining, but you're complaining about the wrong stuff, IMO, and you should take some responsibility for your own part in this mess. You took your army paychecks, therefore you are part of the problem.

At least my military paychecks stayed in the United States. You seem hung up on this 33 cents thing. I feel sorry for your inability to understand how the full economic system works.

I posted this awhile back from Quantum Life Bodyworks but I think it's relevant to this thread so I'll do it again for EnchantedOne to see. The US spent 1.473 trillion in 2008 on their military.

We spend so much because we are the best. We also wind up fighting everyone else's battles. I don't necessarily agree with all that we do in that department, since nobody ever wants to pay back the debt they incur by asking for our help.

How about they recover it from the defense contractors that received $10.7 billion in overpayments, duplicate payments, and payments to fictitious companies?

And once Haiti's paid for, you can put the rest toward those enlisted men or paying down some of the debt.

Sounds good to me. I am all for recovering previously lost funds. That is even more honest that collecting taxes.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Hey let's cancel those programs altogether so other nations can have superior combat technology and tactics. That way we won't be able to put up a fight and it will be cheaper in the long run. Our nation's defense is not the place to cut corners.

Then there's the conflict in your position. You've made it very clear that the government needs to live within its means; the largest area where the US government exceeds its needs is in defense and military spending. If you don't cut there, you've effectively tied your hands as far as actually balancing the budget goes.

Would you put off replacing a door that had been kicked in during a home invasion, further risking your family's safety, because you wanted to give the money to your unemployed neighbor instead?

If my neighbour needed to be carried to the hospital and we had no car or ambulance, I'd pop my door off its hinges myself to use it as a stretcher.

Hey, that reasoning is fine. Why don't we fix our economy now though and help Haiti later? They can wait until we can afford to give them a billion dollars instead of $100 Million the same way that others charities will have to wait for you to finish school so that you can donate more later instead of a little now.

Actually, that way you'd save even more money. This is a situation that will resolve itself, after all.

Refugees and injured people are expensive while they're alive - they need medical care, food, camps, infrastructure reconstruction, etc., etc. The dead are cheap: all you need is a minimum-wage gravedigger and a shovel. Waiting will be cost-effective.

And with your cutting-off-at-the-knees of any effort to get America's financial house in order with your adamant opposition to any defense cuts, you probably won't even need the gravediggers: with that restriction, by the time you'd be inclined to help, even the dead will have turned to dust long before.

We spend so much because we are the best.

You spend so much on the military because the Cold War gave the Military Industrial Complex that Eisenhower warned everyone about five decades of time to become entrenched and gain a position of major influence with the decision-makers of your government.

You also spend so much because you've gotten involved in an unnecessary protracted war.

We also wind up fighting everyone else's battles. I don't necessarily agree with all that we do in that department, since nobody ever wants to pay back the debt they incur by asking for our help.

Exactly which of "everyone else's battles" do you think the US fought because that someone else asked for the US's help?

 

[Gabethewiking]

Okay fixed. That's the problem when 300 third world nations all have names that are one letter apart. Reminds me of the way Arkansas names its cities...

We do not have 300 nations in the world, and only a percentage is consider third world, many would consider us to be a third world ocuntry because of our high STD, Crime and Poverty rate.

Don't be so arrogant.

Originally Posted by enchanted_one1975
Hey let's cancel those programs altogether so other nations can have superior combat technology and tactics. That way we won't be able to put up a fight and it will be cheaper in the long run. Our nation's defense is not the place to cut corners.

Many nations already have superior combat technology then us, it depends on areas and fields, we may have some good things at X whiles others have better things at Y, that is how it works.

Originally Posted by enchanted_one1975
We also wind up fighting everyone else's battles. I don't necessarily agree with all that we do in that department, since nobody ever wants to pay back the debt they incur by asking for our help.

Which other battles have we "fought for" others?

Do you have a list?

Originally Posted by enchanted_one1975
We spend so much because we are the best.

Cheezes christ, does it ever end. It is like the 50s all over again.

Can you define "best" and how we are "the best" please?

 

[YmirGF]

I just read that that joke of a president is spending $100,000,000.00 to help Tahiti.

I realize that was a typo on your part but I wouldn't have been the slightest bit surprised to hear that the Obama Administration HAD donated $100,000,000 to Tahiti all the while thinking they were helping the people of Haiti.

 

[DallasApple]

I think we have to help.Its in your face disaster and catastrophe.I just hope the money isnt misused.I mean they need food and water.200,000 dead bodies in a day..Its crunch time.

911 was so tramatic for us..and for good reason..what 4,000 dead?

200,000 dead ? I dont even want to imagine.I can reach into my pocket for that one.

Love

Dallas

 

[Alceste]

At least my military paychecks stayed in the United States. You seem hung up on this 33 cents thing. I feel sorry for your inability to understand how the full economic system works

I'm not hung up on the 33 cents for Haiti. You are.

My share of the Canadian government's contribution to Haiti is two whole bucks and I'm not complaining. In fact, I might go match it out of pocket if I can find a donation jar.

I feel sorry for your complete and stunning ignorance with respect to US foreign policy and its dismal ranking among developed nations in terms of foreign aid.

We spend so much because we are the best.

All that money you spend is borrowed. That's the point. Make a decision - either support getting the books in order, which could be easily accomplished by cutting your military spending by, say 90 % or so, or accept the fact that your government is going to have to just print money to fund all those wars you're so fond of.

 

[DallasApple]

They even stopped using resourses to search for survivors.People are most likely burried under that rubble alive and intombed lying their dying with no help on the way anymore. .I will not begrudge helping to feed the alive and adiding the injured so they can survive that arent burried.

Love

Dallas

 

[DallasApple]

JUST what an undertaking it woudl be to "bury " the dead....the ones they have recovered.I imagine they will have to use mass graves for health reasons..

Heart wrenching.

Love

Dallas