[snakeoil]

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/201 ... m-dispatch" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This is an interesting and important read on our military bases around the world. The Pentagon estimates that it costs between $1.8 trillion to $2.1 trillion a year to service these bases.

Note: To call Mother Jones a liberal organization would be understating it; but there is much information in the article that should be discussed in Congress.

[elklindo69]

The federal government is to provide a national defense according to the US constitution.

I can understand that the air force needs to be funded so they can protect the air space from incoming enemy missiles, and to patrol the air space so enemy planes will not get through and bomb our cities.

And it's a good idea to have a powerful Navy to protect the shipping lanes from pirates and to patrol the shore lines from anybody who tries an amphibious assault on our beaches.

But it's a completely different issue to maintain military bases on foreign lands, Especially in Europe, where the bases in Germany are cold war relics. So I find it really difficult in justifying 250 billion dollars in annual spending to support foreign conflicts. That money is better spent on creating jobs in the US by building bridges, roads, and other infrastructure projects....

[Leroy]

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/201 ... m-dispatch

This is an interesting and important read on our military bases around the world. The Pentagon estimates that it costs between $1.8 trillion to $2.1 trillion a year to service these bases.

Note: To call Mother Jones a liberal organization would be understating it; but there is much information in the article that should be discussed in Congress.

Snake complained in another thread about stats and such, not having all the numbers...

Maybe Snake should been more complete himself - he failed to mention that most countries PAY the USA to keep bases in their country - while I doubt that it completely covers the cost of the base and operations, it is a significant amount of money.

As an example, in 2012, Japan paid over $2.5 Billion (US) to the USA for the three bases we operate in Italy.

Snake also failed to mention the costs of not having those bases in those areas - meaning that if we had to move troops/supplies, the additional cost of not being able to stage in those areas and what it would cost to move supplies (as well as time) to the active theater.

[BilboBagend]

Yes, there is a cost not supported by huge American businesses but by the American people in general for the purpose of supporting American businesses worldwide and the resultant excessive executive compensations through unwanted and hated American Imperialism and the destruction of the civilizations of foreign peoples.

Almost everything done by the American military and by the American courts is to support at the general taxpayers expense the privileges of huge American corporations, their majority owners, and their executives.

It's amazing how some dishonest and dishonorable morons can state that the common middle class person needs to pay more taxes to support huge corporatio09ns and the wealthy.

[Leroy]

You voted for Obama, so you voted to give the tax payers money to big government AND big corporations. You don't control either of them, but you are getting what you voted for, screwed.