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Clif Brown's avatar

You wrote, "...give the MIC credit. Its tenacity has been amazing".

What makes it and all other lobbies tenacious is money, a flood of money that easily pays for constant attention to Congress. And what makes it doubly outrageous is it is our money going to all the industries that produces the surplus spent on Congress. The stock buy-back issue is allied in that it shows how there is enough money for business to shower it on stock purchases that do nothing but drive up stock prices to the benefit of those given stock options within the companies.

Our problem is bigger than the MIC, but the MIC is an excellent example of the corruption of our system of government. We MUST get rid of Citizens United, a decision behind which every lobby is united.

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jg moebus's avatar

Great Minds think alike, eh Bill? The Future of Freedom Foundation’s Founder and President Jacob Hornberger began today’s post WHY NOT DEFUND THE MILITARY? as follows:

“Amidst all the talk about defunding the police, notice something important: No one talks about defunding the military. That’s because the military establishment is too powerful and has come to be accepted as a permanent feature in American life. Except for libertarians, everyone treats the military as their god.

“But defunding the military, whose taxpayer-funded largess is now around $800 billion per year, is precisely what we need to do. This is especially true given the out-of-control spending, debt, and monetary debauchery that is threatening to take our country down from within, not to mention the fact that the military establishment is now doing everything it can to embroil the United States in a nuclear war with Russia, China, or both.

“According to a September 7, 2022, article at Omni Financial, the United States has around 450-500 military bases here in the United States. All 50 states have at least one base. Several have dozens of bases. California has 123, Texas 59, Florida 56, Hawaii 49, and Alaska 47.

“What purpose does this empire of domestic military bases serve?

“Answer: It serves no purpose whatsoever. These bases all exist for their own sake — that is, simply to serve as a place for military personnel to live and work, as they spend that $800 billion in annual taxpayer-funded largess.

“Think about it. In the 19th century, it made sense to have military bases to protect communities from attacks by Native Americans. But today, there is no threat of attack on any communities by Native Americans. That threat disappeared a long time ago.

“Again, I ask: What purpose do all these military bases serve? Answer: No purpose whatsoever.

“What about the threat of a foreign invasion of the United States? Couldn’t it be said that those 450-500 bases protect Americans in the event of foreign invasion of the United States?

“But there is no threat of a foreign invasion of the United States. None!”

After explaining why there is no threat of invasion, Mr Hornberger concludes as follows:

“Remember what Martin Luther King said about the U.S. national-security state — that it is the ‘greatest purveyor of violence in the world.’

“How is all that deadly and destructive foreign interventionism [since the end of World War II] in the interests of the American people? All it does is inflict death, suffering, and destruction that engenders anger and hatred, which then manifests itself in retaliatory terrorism, which is then used to justify the existence of that vast empire of domestic and foreign military bases.

“Let’s not forget something else that’s of critical importance: the destruction of our liberty here at home at the hands of the national-security establishment. Examples: The USA PATRIOT Act, mass secret surveillance, the super-secret rubber-stamp FISA court, indefinite detention, military tribunals, denial of due process, and state-sponsored assassinations and torture of American citizens.

“Our nation was founded as a limited-government republic. That’s the governmental system that the Constitution called into existence. That was our governmental system for more than 100 years. It was characterized by a basic, relatively small army. The last thing our ancestors wanted was a gigantic military establishment with a gigantic empire of domestic and military bases that America has today. They fiercely opposed standing armies.

“THE CONVERSION OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO A NATIONAL-SECURITY STATE WAS THE WORST MISTAKE OUR NATION HAS EVER MADE. NOT ONLY IS IT A MAJOR FACTOR IN THE OUT-OF-CONTROL FEDERAL SPENDING, DEBT, AND MONETARY DEBAUCHERY THAT IS THREATENING OUR NATION WITH BANKRUPTCY, IT ALSO IS NOW THREATENING OUR NATION WITH LIFE-DESTROYING NUCLEAR WAR.

“WE NEED TO REPEAL AND DISMANTLE THE NATIONAL SECURITY ESTABLISHMENT AND RESTORE A LIMITED-GOVERNMENT REPUBLIC WITH A RELATIVELY SMALL MILITARY FORCE. WE NEED TO DO IT NOW. OUR LIBERTY, PEACE, PROSPERITY, HARMONY, AND POSSIBLY EVEN OUR SURVIVAL DEPEND ON IT.”

Full article at https://www.fff.org/2023/01/31/why-not-defund-the-military/ [EMPHASIS added.]

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