Politics

[Red Leg]

Joe you have made the point many times and very clearly that in regards to the actual cost of the military items provided to Ukraine, it is much lower than actually budgeted or accounted for as a lot of the munitions and vehicles were scheduled to be decommissioned or scrapped anyway. Therefore I'm assuming our ranking on that chart in actual real dollars of net cost to taxpayers is probably off a bit.

Correct. Much of the military assistance represents an assigned value against a budget allocation of retired military hardware - particularly combat vehicles. It is essentially an internal to the US budget drill.

 

[Red Leg]

Thanks @Red Leg ! The chart clearly shows the financial contributions of different countries in defeating Putin's desire for Russia to dominate Eurasia.

I opened up the chart searching for Moldova's contributions and didn't find anything listed. I know it is not a rich country but I was thinking, where is Moldova? They are next on Putin's list. Then I read this in today's Wall Street Journal:

Opinion | Russia Has Designs on Moldova

The tiny state near Ukraine is next on the Kremlin menu.

www.wsj.com

Ukraine may be out of funding but it is losing a generation of young men. This is the least that we can do.

We can probably give Moldova a pass due to the threat posed by one to two thousand Russian troops of the 14th Guards Army occupying Transnistria.

 

[Red Leg]

Not sure about the rest of you, but I find this a somewhat worrisome.

 

[ActionBob]

Not sure about the rest of you, but I find this a somewhat worrisome.

Insanity. Especially after the rather telling comment by the founder of Google calling Musk a "speciest".

 

[AimSmall]

Not sure about the rest of you, but I find this a somewhat worrisome.

Worrisome, yes, but serious muzzle control!

 

[ActionBob]

And talking about polls, a couple new ones just out that are almost as disturbing as the robots with machine guns.

 

[Altitude sickness]

Whether you like Trump or not,

Reagan’s theory of peace through strength worked. Trump is no Reagan

Biden has never projected strength. capitulating to Iran, Afghanistan Taliban

China and Russia smelled blood in the water and jumped.

Iran has increased their funding of militants and so now we have the Israeli war

Obama laughed at Mitt Romney, saying “ the 80s called. They want their foreign policy back”.
That’s when Putin should have been dealt with. But his administration was more concerned with spying on Americans, especially journalists. Than Putin. Remember Hilary’s Russian reset button ?

Now Putin is even weaker than in he was in 2012 and he’s an existential threat. Just behind climate change.

Sorry if I don’t trust or believe the same people that get tangled in “police actions” and “conflicts” with no integrity or intentions of winning.


Obviously, ( help ) stop China and Russia in Ukraine but a lot of the funds are not being used by the military.

Sending that amount of money into Ukraine is like handing the same amount to a Chicago politician. But why not, we are flush with money borrowed from the Chinese.

 

[Jfet]

Not sure about the rest of you, but I find this a somewhat worrisome.

Sky Net

 

[Red Leg]

Sky Net

Maybe give the the robot with the Thompson an Austrian accent?

 

[ActionBob]

Correct. Much of the military assistance represents an assigned value against a budget allocation of retired military hardware - particularly combat vehicles. It is essentially an internal to the US budget drill.

In other words that money has been spent already?

 

[shootist~]

McCarthy leaving congress at end of month. What a mess. Thanks for nothing, Freedom Caucus.

 

[wesheltonj]

Not sure about the rest of you, but I find this a somewhat worrisome.

Not real, yet.

 

[John Wasmuth]

You just have to use the appropriate ammo to render them ineffective…. I’m more worried about the up coming voter fraud……

 

[Red Leg]

In other words that money has been spent already?

The US government has virtually no ability to "gift" any item to a foreign government - there must be accountability. So, let's take a decommissioned M1 tank. Were it sold to an ally as part of a military assistance contract the ally would pay that money to the US government. The ally would also likely buy a security assistance package which would contain spares and training. The Army would account for all of that as a military sale.

Therefore, that potential value is also assigned to the tank provided to Ukraine. In its case, rather than Ukraine writing a check, its theoretical sale value is deducted from the congressional DOD allocation for Ukraine.

However, there are 2,000 M1 tanks permanently parked at Sierra Army depot alone. This does not count the hundreds being withdrawn from the Marine Corps or sitting in other depots. There are very few buyers for these tanks and are unlikely to ever be many as they daily become more obsolete. Eventually, they will have to be demilitarized at great expense - a big driver of which is the composite armor which contains depleted uranium.

Therefore, in realty the tank provided to Ukraine is actually not a "lost" sale, but is quite likely an avoided expense. The same is true of older munitions.

 

[ActionBob]

The US government has virtually no ability to "gift" any item to a foreign government - there must be accountability. So, let's take a decommissioned M1 tank. Were it sold to an ally as part of a military assistance contract the ally would pay that money to the US government. The ally would also likely buy a security assistance package which would contain spares and training. The Army would account for all of that as a military sale.

Therefore, that potential value is also assigned to the tank provided to Ukraine. In its case, rather than Ukraine writing a check, its theoretical sale value is deducted from the congressional DOD allocation for Ukraine.

However, there are 2,000 M1 tanks permanently parked at Sierra Army depot alone. This does not count the hundreds being withdrawn from the Marine Corps or sitting in other depots. There are very few buyers for these tanks and are unlikely to ever be many as they daily become more obsolete. Eventually, they will have to be demilitarized at great expense - a big driver of which is the composite armor which contains depleted uranium.

Therefore, in realty the tank provided to Ukraine is actually not a "lost" sale, but is quite likely an avoided expense. The same is true of older munitions.

And why can't that be explained to the general public?

Of course I question whether the general public can even balance their own checkbook anymore...

Many obviously have no comprehension of basic economics or they would not vote Liberal

 

[Wheels]

McCarthy leaving congress at end of month. What a mess. Thanks for nothing, Freedom Caucus.

McCarthy made the decision to leave prior to his term being up. No one else.

I find it interesting that he waited till after the Santos vote. Seems like a screw you statement to House Republicans.

 

[Boyd Brooks]

 

[Doug3006]

McCarthy leaving makes me wonder about his commitment to the people of California’s 20th District. You know, the people who elected him to Congres to represent them. He has decided that if he can’t be Speaker he isn’t interested in the job he ran for and was elected to.

 

[Jfet]

And why can't that be explained to the general public?

It can be explained but it requires a talented communicator. Unfortunately, those are not common in DC.

 

[jeanes]

And why can't that be explained to the general public?

Of course I question whether the general public can even balance their own checkbook anymore...

Many obviously have no comprehension of basic economics or they would not vote Liberal

If we actually had a leader he might do well to address the nation, as did President Reagan, in terms most would understand, just what our national interests are and why we are supporting Ukraine and Israel. A great number of people do not remember the Cold War and many actually believe opposing Russia is '80's foreign policy, just something mentioned in a boring history lesson. Unfortunately that message is left to the pundits on the various media outlets spouting their opinions as our "leader" can't form a coherent sentence.