Speakeasy forum: A comparison question

as far as where and when, even if they're given a goal to obtain by Congress, they should not be dictated where to cut and where to spend.

The biggest unnecessary cost to the military budget is military spending forced by Congress to benefit one or other of the congresscritters home district or industrial campaign contributor. Forcing them to buy something the military management doesn't really want or overruling the BRAC commission.

I'll grant in NC the state lobbies incessantly against any cutbacks when the BRAC studies are made. We make too much money off the bases here. It's the same in ever state and congressional district, everyone wants cuts elsewhere.

but I would agree for the most part. Unfortunately there's more than just the military concerns involved in defense spending. Amount of taxes spent, areas that support military industry, locations of bases and effects on local economies, a big with me is proper soldier paychecks, transportation companies, and so many places that cutbacks in spending or loss of bases or hardware producton can hurt. An added concern is generals like big expensive equipment too often more than the needs of the troops. Maybe that's a big jaded opinion, but seems expensive new equipment which cost may not justify a limited need too often gets the money better spent elsewhere. Also consider all the money we spend and our troops spend in overseas markets where we have bases. Imagine if there were fewer of those bases, and those troops were spending their wages in our local economy instead.

It sounds great to say leave it to the military alone to make decisions, but without some balancing control on it, they'd screw things up just as bad in some other direction.

I agree that mission needs and soldier pay should be paramount considerations in the military budget.

Granted, some of the tax 'credits' are from Bush, but a huge number of tax increases are in areas that hit capital gains, dividends, estates (remember how loudly Democrats cried over not getting any of Steinbrenner's estate when he died when it was still at zero?), in addition to all of the new Obamacare taxes that are coming.....and the extra fees and fines that are just now coming to light. Even if some the Bush tax credits are put back into place, the taxes on smaller incomed people and companies are still going to go up because of the rest of them that aren't being talked about. It's all kabuke money shuffling and lying to the people. The tax increases on only the Bush credits won't come anywhere near the $500B that is being talked about......that money all comes from the rest of the increases so it's giving a false sense of 'security' to the lower incomed people who will still get a hit no matter what happens in this 'deal'.

Some restaurants were smuggling cheese in from the states.

4.54 litres in my gallon

a quart or 2 litre will.

Fits my bottom door shelf perfectly. I know older refrigerators used to favor the half gallon sizes like Roger describes. When we had our "Brady Bunch" refrigerator for years, the Gallons had to go on a shelf, but like Roger's we could put the half gallon side in the door.

so the doors are a bit smaller for each than a single door, so less "slamming". Good idea about the hinges though, so I went to look and they seem heavier duty than those 18-20 cf single door boxes.

that's what we did, and put a new cabinet in where the old frig was.