Eisboch wrote:
"hk" wrote in message
. ..

Indeed, a colossal waste of taxpayer money...a 600-ship Navy. Boys and
their toys.



That's an interesting statement, coming from you.

How about all the union civilian yardbird jobs lost due to a major reduction
in military spending?
Ship building, maintenance, repairs, upgrades.

How about the union jobs lost at Pratt and Whitney and GE because a
reduction by 75% of aircraft carriers results in far fewer aircraft and
their associated repairs and engine replacements?

How about the union jobs lost in avionics, navigation, weapons systems? I
know from my working experience that almost all of these programs have
multi-tiered participants in industry. Companies like Raytheon may be the
prime, but they issue millions, if not billions of subcontracts to smaller
companies (like the one I had) to supply services, equipment, etc. to
support their programs.

I also recall a serious concern about major military contractors like
Raytheon losing their technical and structured manufacturing capabilities
due to reductions in military spending on new systems. It came down to a
handful of major contractors who, if they were forced to lay off people
commensurate with Carter's reduction in military spending, becoming unable
to respond technically and manufacturing wise to future threats due to lost
talent and scrapped projects.

Reagan's policies helped prevent all the above.

Eisboch




We are a nation with a crumbling infrastructure. If we directed our
resources properly, there would be plenty of work for Americans with all
sorts of abilities, cerebral and physical, in every field. We need more
and better high speed rail, new and rebuilt bridges, water treatment
plants, energy production facilities, more economical air transport,
cars, whatever.

The problem with having a military capable of aggressive action is that
you sometimes get an idiot in the White House like Bush who wants to
play cowboy and use it. His father knew how to use a military
force...too bad the son didn't learn from his dad.





--
"In the 21st century, nations don’t invade other nations."
John McCain, news conference, 13 August 2008, forgetting somehow that
the United States invaded and occupied Iraq in 2003. Another McCain
senior moment?