Believe those who are seeking the truth.
Doubt those who find it.
Andre Gide
Image of the Day
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| Via Patriot Post |
Senator Coburn (R-OK), one of my favorite senators references this Reuters piece on FB. Lots of inexcusable waste in the Pentagon budget. Some relevant excerpts, including mention of a bill I strongly support:
Senators Tom Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican, and Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, introduced legislation earlier this year that would penalize the Pentagon if it isn’t audit-ready by 2017. Under the proposed Audit the Pentagon Act of 2013, failure to meet the deadline will result in restrictions on funding for new acquisition programs, prohibit purchases of any information-technology systems that would take more than three years to install, and transfer all DFAS functions to the Treasury.
The Defense Department’s 2012 budget totaled $565.8 billion, more than the annual defense budgets of the 10 next largest military spenders combined, including Russia and China. In its investigation, Reuters has found that the Pentagon is largely incapable of keeping track of its vast stores of weapons, ammunition and other supplies; thus it continues to spend money on new supplies it doesn’t need and on storing others long out of date. It has amassed a backlog of more than half a trillion dollars in unaudited contracts with outside vendors. $8.5 trillion in taxpayer money doled out by Congress to the Pentagon since 1996, the first year it was supposed to be audited, has never been accounted for. The main reason is rooted in the Pentagon’s continuing reliance on a tangle of thousands of disparate, obsolete, largely incompatible accounting and business-management systems. Many of these systems were built in the 1970s and use outmoded computer languages such as COBOL on old mainframes. They use antiquated file systems that make it difficult or impossible to search for data. Much of their data is corrupted and erroneous. “We have about $14 billion of inventory for lots of reasons, and probably half of that is excess to what we need,” Navy Vice Admiral Mark Harnitchek, the director of the DLA, said at an August 7, 2013, meeting with aviation industry executives, as reported on the agency’s web site.
Facebook Corner
Patriot Post. Obama Spreads Holiday Jeer
He is the reason for the season, but our narcissist-in-chief apparently believes that phrase is referring to himself. Several images were recently posted from Barack Obama's official Twitter feed encouraging folks to spread the word about ObamaCare this holiday season.
The photos said: “The best way to spread holiday cheer, is by talking about health care at this time of year”; “This holiday season, talk to your loved ones about health insurance”; and “No matter how old they get, your kids still appreciate a good talk. This holiday season, make it about health care.”
After he heard Nancy Pelosi say that you have to pass the bill to see what's in it, Obama thinks that ObamaCare makes for the perfect Christmas gift... It's the gift that keeps you giving...
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| Via LFC |
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| Via LFC |
When everybody owns everything, nobody owns anything. One is not personally vested in efficient, effective utilization of resources, and there is no competition or incentive to motivate innovation. Statist planning is sclerotic and incompatible with a dynamic economy. Is it any wonder corruption is rampant under more authoritarian regimes?
(Personal Liberty). Whether to grant amnesty to 11 million illegals is being debated in the House once again. Do you think illegal immigrants should be allowed to become U.S. citizens?
Economic growth is tied to a liberalized economy. Our nation has experienced high growth under liberalized immigration. We need to get the government out of the way of businesses getting the resources they need to provide more affordable goods and services. Stop thinking in zero-sum terms; let us reaffirm our immigrant roots.
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| Via LFC |
In [discussant's] view of the universe, his house is the destination of all roads. A number of factors going into these decisions, including traffic demand, existing routes and capacity, profits from road operations, etc.
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| Via Bastiat Institute |
Political Cartoon
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| Courtesy of Lisa Benson and Townhall |
Art Garfunkel, "All I Know". I'm a huge Jimmy Webb fan; he penned the immortal "MacArthur Park" which I recently covered, a number of Glenn Campbell classics and this song. (My favorite Webb tune is "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" which I've occasionally embedded in the blog.) This is definitely one of the top 2 or 3 songs I like from the early 1970's. I think I read in the liner notes to Webb's album of his own tune covers that the inspiration for the song was a former British girlfriend whom didn't take their relationship as seriously and may have regarded his relevant songwriting as silly. As I prepared this segment, I become aware of the fact that a few years back Webb asked Linda Ronstadt to come out of retirement to perform a country-style duet of the song (which I also embed below).
