From PoliticusUSA: http://www.politicususa.com/profile-legit-defense-expenditure-number-illegitimate-money-wasters.html
By: Dennis S
Mar. 11th, 2013
I once had a rough-hewn buddy from West Virginia who would say, “I’m gonna tell you something what’s gonna shock yuh!”. Well, here are some figures “what’s gonna shock yuh!” The Iraq war’s estimated cost is a trillion dollars (the President’s figure). By the time Iraq and Afghanistan are returned to peacetime status, the tab could hit a couple of trillion. Lost money in Iraq $9 billion (ABC News).
Our Defense budget is in the neighborhood of $700 billion annually. Number 2 China is at $143 billion. The U.S. has military bases and installations in 150 countries around the world, a count that flirts with imperialism. I’m going to examine just one of these countries, actually a U.S. Territory, and see how a tiny island can chew up money like a giant paper shredder.
In my last contribution on the subject of appropriations, I promised to write about the pittance of money for a possible face-off we’ve heard little about.
Truth be told, it’s not a pittance. We’re sending a shit-pot load of green to today’s subject, Guam, a gorgeous little island in the Pacific. Guam is home to a massive military presence. Air, land and water ordnance abounds.
One of the many revelations that jumped off the page of the recent Republican House Appropriations Bill H.R. 933 was Section 8104.
There were 2 expenditures listed; the first was a modest (by government standards) $13 million for construction of a Regional Health Laboratory. Then there was the more eye-popping $106,000,000 for “Addressing the need for civilian water and wastewater improvements.” The population of Guam is about the same as Huntsville, Alabama; roughly 160,000 or so. Huntsville’s Public Works budget, which I assume covers civilian water and wastewater improvements, is a tiny fraction of $106 million. Exactly where is the 106 million going in an island 3 times the size of our nation’s capital or 22,000 acres?
Here’s a hint. Since 2000 the U.S. has built up its military presence in Guam to protect its Asian allies against possible aggression from China and North Korea.
Continue reading at: http://www.politicususa.com/profile-legit-defense-expenditure-number-illegitimate-money-wasters.html
