Observations from Outside the Death Star: August

Observations from Outside the Death Star: August

 

 

“If you ever had an idea that people were really terrible, you could watch the news and know that you’re right” – Frank Zappa

1. Feeding the Machine: Audit Blues at the DoD & the Social Cost of Imperialism

The next time someone tells you that there’s not enough money in the budget for single-payer healthcare in the United States; you should smack them directly in the mouth and remind them that the Pentagon has either lost, or spent without properly accounting for between 6.5 and 8.5 trillion dollars since 1996. Due to incompetence, mismanagement or purposeful obfuscation, the Department of Defense simply cannot (and likely never will be able to) account for enough money to fund every “pie in the sky” pinko/left dreamboat social program you can imagine; including single payer healthcare – possibly for decades!

This is of course simply part and parcel for an imperial war machine that spends roughly $600 billion (recorded) dollars a year on its military – more than the next seven or eight nations combined and more than enough to defeat virtually any military threat the United States could possibly face from anyone else on planet earth. I’ve got a “radical” idea – how about we bomb a few less hospitals abroad and pay for a few more hospital visits back home in America?

Projecting imperial power is abso-fucking-lutely not in the best interest of the average American citizen but ensuring that everyone, regardless of personal wealth has access to adequate medical care most certainly is. The problem isn’t a lack of funds but rather a lack of political will and virtually fucking everyone knows it.

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- Nina Illingworth