On Sep 14, 2006, at 8:54 PM, jdiebremse wrote:
--- In [EMAIL PROTECTED], "Nick Arnett" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
A while ago, somebody said "This country isn't at war, only our
military is at war." I think that was profound. It bugs the heck out
of me, to put it mildly, that our leaders ask no one except the troops
to make sacrifices for the current wars. Although I certainly had
some idea that corporations were making huge profits off the war, this
editorial offers facts... although it's certainly not just the CEOs
who are making all the money.
What is "huge profits"? Is there some level of profits for these
companies that you would accept as not being "huge"? Particularly
after accounting for the fact that companies which provide services to
the military naturally find their services to be in much greater demand
during wartime than in peacetime?
Also, do you have a problem with defense companies making sub-standard
profits during peacetime? Do you believe that defense companies
should
receive profits during wartime that would compensate them in the long
run for the risks they beared while their services were not in much
demand during peacetime?
JDG
Here's some insight from one who ostensibly worked under DoD through
2001.
When I invoiced the Anteon Corporation, they padded their bills to
Rumsfeld shockingly high: For every $10,000 I invoiced they tacked
$7,500 ON TOP of that and sent it along to the Pentagon. Yup, we are
all paying $17,500 for every milestone I made, a 75% "shipping &
handling fee" for them simply accepting my emailed PDF - I never even
met anyone from the company in person and all they did was minor
paperwork - and mailing me a check. This was the pre-9/11, pre-war
levels of bacon and one wonders just what is going on now that
crisis-mode has been in gear, for years. This disturbed me as much
then as it does now. I was glad the job ended.
I see jobs that used to go to Pfc's peeling potatoes now expensively
subcontracted {and farmed out to Philippine, etc, labor brought to
Iraq} in order to keep an American Draft from blowing through the
living rooms of America - kinda makes warfare cleaner and easier and
safely distant, to some. I fully expect the next stage to be Green
Blood ranks as we dangle ever-more US citizenship cards to make up our
military and keep our various wars in motion as cheaply as possible.
Those "services" rendered mean today, as you read this, mercenaries
from around the world are killing and bribing across Iraq with impunity
& in our name since Rummy & Co insist they are beyond even local laws.
Oh, and all these billions {we currently spend 3B/week now} in income
is tax free!
That you can phrase the question as should a defense company be making
sub-standard profits - whatever that means in this realm - is amazing
to read. If you have any direct experience I'd like to hear about it.
They've always been astronomical and almost unendingly open-budgets...
it's how the politicians spread the pork to their districts - calling
it white collar welfare is my take after 1st-hand exposure. How about
corruption of the political process as another cost unseen?
Here's something to consider, nationalize the defense industry:
http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/stanton/stanton_bigboardwatch.php
How would you define an appropriate system?
Jonathan Gibson
www.formandfunction.com/word
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