Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld recently announced the closing or reduction of more than 800 military installations.
The ostensible reason is to reduce costs, yet of course military budgets keep going up and up and up - but none of that gets to the soldiers, the medics, the engineers, or any of the other personnel on the ground; it all goes to defense contractors, to buy $50 million dollar jets and $3,000 screwdrivers. As of now, a US army private gets about $14,000 a year. I wonder how much they could raise pay for the price of one F-16?
But this is also a bit of electoral payback. Whiles bases are closing in Conneticut, Maine, and Washington DC, they'll be opening in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama - not to mention Texas. Though there is some bipartisanship in who suffers from this:
Job Losses:
CT: Liberman (D) -6496
ME: Snowe (R) -6938 (many actually in NH)
MO: Talent (R) -3679
MS: Lott (R) -1678
ND Conrad (D) -2645
NM Bingaman (D) -2849
PA Santorum (R) -1878
VA Allen (R) -1574
Let the games begin.
