Attempts to Use Portions of War Contract Monies for Domestic Needs

"Trickle down economics, ladies and
gentlemen, does not work; it has not 
tricked down, and in fact it has closed 
off to where all of the money stays up 
top, it never trickles down to the 
bottom. We've got to change that." 


- Democrat Rep. Hank Johnson  

On July 7, 2011 Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx spoke in the House on the 14.3 trillion dollar debt and said that an uncertainty in spending is what stops job growth.  She left out the cuts made by her and her Republican constituents to vital projects and programs in America, which translate to slashed paychecks, job loss, hunger, the downsizing of the education system, less innovation, a barely existent middle-class, and less job training for the youth.  A look at the US, at Britain and other countries' experiences with austerity show that cuts to social safety-nets have made economies worse.  She also left out the last thirty-year usurp-up economics.  Yes what you have learned in physics has been reversed.  


On July 7 Democrat Rep. Paul Tonko offered an Amendment to the defense spending budget that would limit the yearly salaries of private contractor executives to no more than 200,000 dollars, no more than the salary of the United States Secretary of Defense.  He pointed out that some contractors make a starting salary, of 700,000 dollars with yearly increases.  Private contract companies that send civilians overseas make additional hundreds of thousands for each individual, 100-percent payed for with tax-payer dollars.  Army Privates make a starting salary of 20,000 dollars, a General who has served for thirty-seven years makes 180,000 and the president makes 400,000.  The Amendment did not pass, in fact it was not voted on after Republican Rep. Bill Young stated the Amendment was an attempt to change existing law.

An Amendment by Democrat Rep. Christopher Murphy asked that noncombat vehicles used in Iraq and Afghanistan be purchased from US companies rather than European and Asian companies.  The Buy American Act says that when buying items for the US military, they should be purchased at home.  There is a loophole to the Act.  When buying items for use outside of the United States, they need not be from the United States.  Since 2003, the DOD reports that they have spent 1.3 billion in purchases of noncombat vehicles from foreign manufacturers and thirty-six billion in other foreign purchases last year. They used approximately 38,000 waivers to the Buy America Act last year and approximately 161,000 waivers in the last four years.  Murphy's Amendment would create jobs in the US.  His Amendment would fix the loophole to the Buy American Act. Rep. Bill Young, again, explained that this Amendment too proposes to change existing law and the Amendment was also not voted on.

Democrat Rep. Jared Polis' Amendment would reduce the number of troops in Europe from 80,000 to 30,000.  Polis noted that they can easily and quickly return to Europe with the quick travel of today and that there isn't a real current threat to Europe that requires their presence.  He explains that re-stationing the troops to United States bases would be ten to twenty-percent less expensive.  This would also close some of the bases in Europe, which are unpopular among many Europeans.  He explains that European countries are some of the richest and they can afford to protect themselves, with their current defense spending at two-percent of their GDP.  Young opposed the Amendment and advised a "no" vote.  

An Amendment offered by Democrat Rep. John Lewis would have required that the DOD post information on their website showing the cost of war to each individual American. He explained that there seems to be a bottomless pit of money and blank checks for war, but for education, the elderly, and money for medicine, there isn't enough. Young stated that Lewis' Amendment proposes to change existing law and a vote wasn't taken.  When the House was then asked if anyone had any comments, Lewis stated that he had made his point and did not have another point to make.  

Half a trillion dollars have been spent over the last ten years in Afghanistan.  Twelve-billion dollars is the amount recently appropriated to Afghanistan's security forces and it's in "borrowed money." Afghanistan's yearly GDP is twelve to fourteen billion dollars, nearly the same amount.  Twelve-billion have been spent on private contractors in Afghanistan since 2005 and 112 billion on private contractors in Iraq since 2005.  Democrat Rep. Hansen Clarke recently had an Amendment to keep 236 million to be used instead for an infrastructure fund to repair roads and bridges, secure ports, and fund rapid transit systems, which would enable the United States to be less dependent on foreign oil.  Republican Rep. Bill Young said that Clarke's Amendment would change existing law and the House was not able to vote on it.

Steve Cohen's Amendment requested that four billion of the twelve-billion eight-hundred million in monies going to the Afghan security forces fund be used to pay for some of the deficit.  The Amendment was also denied by House Republicans and not voted on.

Foreign Lobbying for the Grand Canyon's Uranium and the Effects on Clean Water

On July 25, 2011 Democrat Rep. Louise Slaughter rose in the House of Representatives to speak against a Republican bill that would enable two foreign entities to mine for uranium around the Grand Canyon: Russia (for its state atomic energy corporation) and South Korea (for its state-owned utility).  Mining for uranium in the area would have harmful effects to the water quality of 26 million people.  Slaughter explains, their bill is specifically designed to benefit lobbyists and special interests.  The lobbyists' beneficiaries need not be forgotten.  If passed, it would be an "auctioning off" of a national treasury - plus collateral damage.


The same Republican bill cuts programs for clean air and water by 40% and it would prohibit the addition of new animals to the endangered species list, yet allow species' to be removed from the list.


In the past private companies have contaminated the Great Lakes.  The Great Lakes are 20% of the worlds fresh drinking water.  The bill would not allow the use of any funding to restore the lakes.  As with the landfill dumping in San Diego, many private companies are reckless and the bill to clean up a mess is usually left for the state to pay, an additional cost to the tax-payer - additional to the tax-payers' money appropriated to the private contract.  


Slaughter points out that the bill also affects the arts; the National Endowment for the Arts would lose 20% of its funding and the measure would likely put people out of work since money will be limited for workers' pay. The previous funding of 167.5 million dollars for non-profit art organizations has generated 166.2 billion dollars, supported 5.7 million jobs, and has put back more money into the treasury than taken out, 16.6 billion has been put back in tax revenue, Slaughter explains.   

Grand Canyon

Republican Rep. Rob Bishop says that the land in AZ was intended for mining purposes and that the mined goods will be shipped and processed somewhere else so not to worry about pollutants.  It's just fine to ship away jobs as long as it makes others sick ladies and gentlemen.  Slaughter says, the Colorado River is already endangered by uranium mines. "Adding more uranium to the water does not make sense."  Slaughter sites a NY Times article on Obama's moratorium extension, which prohibits any new uranium mining claims on one million acres around the Grand Canyon.  The article states, this extension will "protect...the drinking water for millions of people."

Democrat Rep. Edward Markey rose to say that if the bill were to pass "our air will be smoggier, our climate will be hotter, our water will be more polluted, our public lands will become more dispoiled, simply put this legislation is so toxic, so toxic that you'd better handle it wearing a hazmat suit."  Further, it would increase the infant mortality rate, add more cases of asthma, and add more harm to children and adults from toxins like mercury.  It would involve the future of many environmental crimes.

The bill cuts to a total of 78%.  The bill also prohibits the EPA in all 50 states from improving environmental standards on vehicles, which would in effect delay or stop the development and manufacturing of electric vehicles.  Markey states it's, "Good for the auto and oil industry" bad for everyone. 


The mining would expose people in the area to radiation along with anyone visiting the Grand Canyon National Park. Republican Rep. Rob Bishop claims that if some of the uranium were to get into the water used for drinking and cooking it would not be higher than the limit. A number lower than the amount considered dangerous in AZ.  


A uranium report on what unhealthy amounts of uranium in drinking water can do to the health explains that there is an increased risk of cancer over time, and that small amounts of uranium are automatically ingested and are absorbed and carried through the bloodstream.  This increases a person's risk of kidney damage.  


It's tough when mainstream media outlets obtain so much of their environmental information from a group called the George C. Marshall Institute, which is funded by large companies in oil and tobacco.  The institute fosters the ideas of the uncertainty of climate change, uncertainty of health problems associated with second-hand smoke, acid rain, and many other strange delusions based in profit pseudoscience.   

Economic Summit, San Diego, August 2011

One of the worst sewage offenders is a company called Veolia. Veolia has water contracts all around the state of California.  The company has been working on getting a water contract in the city of San Diego.  "You don't want them cutting corners with your water," said a rep. with Food & Water Watch at the Economic Summit held in San Diego, by A Better San Diego on Aug. 27, 2011.  Workers for these private companies make decent wages, but the real profit lands in the pockets of those at the top, and that's tax-money.  The all-around private contract costs more to the tax-payer than if it were to remain pubic and without the tax-payer, there would be no private contract nor public water company.  In addition, if pipes break in the city with a private entity - among other additional costs - more tax-dollars would be spent to purchase more contracts to hire people to fix the pipes; the privatization of water would cost much more to the public than if water were to remain a public entity.  

Credibility of Budget Plans

The Labor Party's shadow chancellor of the UK, Ed Balls' blog on August 6, 2011 read, “As I said in my LSE speech in June, deficit reduction plans are only credible if they have political agreement and they deliver on what they promise." Balls questioned whether the US Congress's plans can be delivered with confidence.  

Ed Balls, British Labor MP

Watching the debt fiasco on CSPAN, it was clear that Republicans were the party facilitating the doubt - to say the least. The S&P press release singled out Republicans directly as reason for the downgrade, "Compared with previous projections, our revised base case scenario now assumes that the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, due to expire by the end of 2012, remain in place. We have changed our assumption on this because the majority of Republicans in Congress continue to resist any measure that would raise revenues, a position we believe Congress reinforced by passing the act."  S&P had counted on the Bush tax cuts to expire and gave the Republicans stance on revenue as reason for the downgrade, whereas nowhere does the release single out Democrats.  

Republican Rep.

Tom Graves (grave digger)

There were talks of shutting down the government.  Republican representative Tom Graves said, "Let's put government in a box and shrink the box over five years."  Democrat Representative Anna Eshoo posted a message in her facebook notes on April 8, 2011 that in the event of a shutdown of the federal government, she would keep her offices in California and Washington DC open and that her staff would remain on duty without pay.  

A June 30, 2011 Bloomberg article noted, "S&P would lower its sovereign top-level AAA ranking to D, the last rung on its scale if the U.S. can’t pay its debt..." and "...Moody’s Investors Service said it will probably reduce its ranking if the government fails to increase the debt limit, leading to a default."  All the while  presidential candidate Michele Bachmann passed through media outlets vowing that she would not raise the debt ceiling.  Of  course FOX News was on board with Senate and House republicans including Republican Representative Bachmann along the way, downplaying the consequences of a downgrade to the creditworthiness of the county's debt or a US default.  When later, S&P did end up downgrading the country's rating to a AA+, even though the ceiling was raised.

Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann

Ed Balls alludes to the mirroring US budget plans of the British budget plans and how the Republicans have not learned lessons by observing the British austerity outcomes, "That is why I am fearful that Republican Congressional leaders have learned the wrong lesson from the British experience over the past twelve months."