*trots up ondeck*

also, on the prescient Peter Schiff...

i wonder how the matey would view our expensive conflicts in iraq and afghanistan and the way they been funded and accounted fer, budgetwise?

me feelin' is that his point 'o view would cause much distress and outrage amongst the more hawkish components 'o our great land.

aye?

- MeadHallPirate

Quite likely. So would mine, but I'm of the same opinion.

__________________

He's come to save the day!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVFdAJRVm94

You suppose that we should "do" war cheaply?

__________________
Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys. ---P. J. O'Rourke

No, just keep the numbers off the books so it doesn't look so damned expensive.

*scurries to and fro ondeck, answerin' replies left'n right*

*ponders...*

hail EagleTed!

imma no expert, mate, though i'd guess the cheapest way to "do" war would be not to do it at all...all 'o which be besides the point. i was just musin' on what Mr. Schiff, the new darlin' 'o both the left and right here on USPO, would say about our very pricey conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.

thus far, i've found very little on him regardin' social and foreign policy issues, though he seems to be a bright fellow and is a "bottem line" kinda guy.

i'd be curious how he sees these two "investments". my guess is that he'd be labeled as kinda a Ron Paul caliber kook by the republicans on these matters.

aye...

- MeadHallPirate

Indeed. Look at the number of bases we have worldwide. Bases which we fund and man, for the security of other peoples, who we are borrowing money from, so that we can defend. I would say that if these people want our troops to remain, they should start footing the bill or perhaps even paying us to maintain their defense. If not, let us proceed to remove ourselves from their affairs.

__________________

He's come to save the day!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVFdAJRVm94

Can't speak for anyone but myself. And other than marginal gains from some government projects, such as the interstate project, most government spending isn't "investments" it's merely expenditures just as war is.

If all Congress spent money on was investments, the government would be smaller than my county's courthouse.

__________________
Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys. ---P. J. O'Rourke

I have no doubt we could save big bucks by realigning our bases, closing many of them. Nonetheless, I'm loath to second guess the Pentagon who's job is an awesome responsibility. Many bases stay open solely due to political considerations, which is a mistake. OTOH, it's fairly naive to believe Congress will ever spend money only where it's absolutely needed.

__________________
Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys. ---P. J. O'Rourke

You could just read Ron Paul's End the Fed book which is almost the same thing.

My point was more along the line that there is a more efficient (for us) way to handle this practically biting us on the ass and we're ignoring it because we're the big bad US and we don't need nuthin' from nobody.

The rest of the world wants a policeman (one who can actually do the job competently, unlike the UN?)? Fine, we'll do it, but real police get paid for their services. We are not, and we aren't even recouping our costs. That is not a financially sound outcome.

__________________

He's come to save the day!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVFdAJRVm94

The world owes us, but that's a debt we'll never collect on. OTOH, by securing the world's trade routes and creating a fairly stable world, we benefit ourselves as much as anybody else.

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Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys. ---P. J. O'Rourke

We do not benefit from stable eurasian trade routes as much as Europe and Asia. We do not benefit from a stable Middle East as much as the Middle East. The costs for our operations to benefit others are not evenly distributed by any stretch of the imagination - indeed, the people we defend are accruing interest on the loans we take from them in order to defend them. I simply advocate having the primary beneficiaries of these policies pay their fair share of the costs for them, or taking our ball and going home.

__________________

He's come to save the day!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVFdAJRVm94

Hard to argue with. We could start by quit paying 25% of the UN's operating budget, as Reagan did.

__________________
Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys. ---P. J. O'Rourke

Kind of like hiding the dead at Dover. I'll never forgive the Bush family for that little travesty.

Kind of off-topic. You can take your Bush bashing to a more appropriate thread.

__________________
Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys. ---P. J. O'Rourke