Barney Frank asks a long overdue question

[FKA MNChimpH8R]

"I am a great believer in freedom of expression and am proud of those times when I have been one of a few members of Congress to oppose censorship. I still hold close to an absolutist position, but I have been tempted recently to make an exception, not by banning speech but by requiring it. I would be very happy if there was some way to make it a misdemeanor for people to talk about reducing the budget deficit without including a recommendation that we substantially cut military spending."

The rest is at http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090302/frank?rel=hp_picks

[Lifelong Protester]

1. Barney Frank is a real gem,

and one who seems to really tell it like it is with no sugar-coating.
How about also banning anyone who led the charges on getting this illegal war going from crying "But it costs too much...sob..."

[Frisbee]

17. Barney won me over when...

he put Billo in his place and told him "you can't bully me". I bet that loser (Billo) has never been madder than when an openly gay man not only didn't back down, but went on the offensive with him. One of the great days and events in American media!

[annabanana]

2. Wow! He has spoken the unspeakable.

I am impressed!

[The_Casual_Observer]

3. Probably the last thing fueling basic industry in this country has been

defense spending. Reduce defense spending now & put the rest of the balance of the skilled workers in this country out of a job. It's the choice they know they are faced with.

[loudsue]

4. Green energy will creat plenty of jobs...instead of manufacturing bombs, they

can learn to manufacture turbines to make electricity, and to engineer windmills & solar panels and battery packs etc. etc. etc.

Any war jobs on this planet need to become extinct like the barbarians who want to wage these damned wars to begin with.

Ok. I can dream.

[The_Casual_Observer]

5. Historically it's been impossible to get consistent government

funding for anything but "national defense". Any time there has been a reduction in defense spending, that money wasn't re-appropriated for the social good, it simply disappeared altogether and recession followed. My fear is that what would happen again, whether that's Frank's intention or not.

[creeksneakers2]

10. Do you mean that the level of total spending would fall?

I can't see that happening. Universal healthcare is out there.

[Chulanowa]

9. Have them produce something else

We don't have to use that technology and labor and infrastructure to make missiles, after all.

[geckosfeet]

31. That is always the easy way out. And people buy it. The money that goes into

defense spending can go into infrastructure, schools, municipal services, health care, energy research - and if you can't figure out how to do it then you probably shouldn't be in charge of spending it.

[CrispyQ]

6. Hear! Hear!

Sadly, I doubt we will have a national discussion about this issue.

[JerseygirlCT]

7. Gotta love Barney. nt

[Laelth]

8. Good idea!

Except to the extent such a law violates the 1st Amendment, of course. ;)

The United States is a LIBERAL Country.

:dem:

-Laelth

[surrealAmerican]

11. Thank you, Barney Frank.

If only more of our representatives would say this...

[remoulade]

12. We should change the name of DOD back to what it used to be "War Department"

if we want to be honest.

[creeksneakers2]

15. Right on!

They call it "defense" when there is nobody out there who has the will or the means to militarily attack us. There is no threat to "defend" against.

[creeksneakers2]

13. He's right. Nobody is talking about cutting the military

In the next couple of years, Congress will decide what to do about the rising costs of Medicaid and Medicare. Its likely that they'll cut at least some money from the programs. Why not cut the military instead?

Frank is not only right about nobody in Washington talking about cutting the military. The idea gets very little attention at the grass roots level either. While universal healthcare is debated, the reality that the government will likely soon provide less healthcare rather than more is ignored. We'd have far less national debt now if it weren't for all the money wasted on the military. Something has to go now and it shouldn't be Medicare or Medicaid.

[byeya]

29. Dennis K called for a 15% cut of the military budget;

I think he was the only candidate to do so.
I have read, but don't know if it's true, that during WWII the USA had approx 12 million men and woman in uniform. Today, I understand it's less than 2 million in uniform yet there are as many admirals and generals as in WWII. Grade creep do you suppose?

[FedUp_Queer]

32. 15% is too low

We spend approximately $650 billion on defense...remember more than essentially all other countries combined. I'd say a 30%-40% cut is more like it.

[byeya]

33. I'd say 30-40% is more like it too but a 15% cut looks OK

when everyone running is for keeping the spending as is, or, as with Obama, raising it.
We also have to count most of the Dept of Energy and the spy agencies and the money given to state and local law enforcement for spying on us.

[bulloney]

36. That's because this country is hooked on military spending like a crack addict.

We have ourselves believing that cutting military spending would lead to a major cut in manufacturing jobs with no alternative products to produce in their place. So, the spending just keeps getting racheted up with each administration with little or no accountability.

We laugh at the collapse of the Soviet Union. We're heading for the same results if we don't drastically change our priorities.

[scarletwoman]

14. It's certainly about time someone raised this issue. Why DO we spend billions on war and death,

instead of making sure no one in our country is hungry or homeless?

sw

[Stargazer09]

16. I would add some provisions

We can skip the overpriced and under-performing fighter jets, but we shouldn't cut military paychecks or safety equipment.

The whole thing with Rummy and " to war with the Army you have" thing really angered me.

Thanks for posting this! :patriot:

[astonamous]

18. That's a billion dollar question. eom

[leftchick]

19. this part should be screamed from the mountain tops!

I was in Congress on September 10, 2001, and I know there was no money in the budget at that time for a war in Iraq. So my answer is that I will go to the people who found the money for that war and ask them if they could find some for healthcare.

:loveya: barney!

[nannah]

20. you go Barney!!!! This is long overdue.

To FKA MNChimpHBR: I enthusiastically admit to copying your signature line. It's an exquisitely precise expression of reality. Diderot was a visionary.

[FKA MNChimpH8R]

43. That's OK I swiped it from a poster at

The Smirking Chimp.com It is such a perfect and pithy piece of wisdom, isn't it?

:loveya:

I cannot believe the love this thread has received and am very grateful to the long list of DUers who have recommended it. I am genuinely gobsmacked!

[bobbolink]

21. He could ask the same people for money for LOW-INCOME HOUSING

"I was in Congress on September 10, 2001, and I know there was no money in the budget at that time for a war in Iraq. So my answer is that I will go to the people who found the money for that war and ask them if they could find some for healthcare. "

Barney Frank is one of the few congresscritters who KNOWS the numbers of how many people desperately need low-income housing. According to his figures (which I suspect are low), there are 9 million of us who need low-income housing, and 6 million available units.

Even a first-grader can do that math.

So, if it is important enough to all of you, the money for low-income housing can be found the very same way.

Or, we can continue to cheer for a publicity stunt of a Republican couple "loaning" the use of their home to a homeless family (which will be revoked as soon as the spotlight is off of them!)

It's up to you, folks.

It's up to all of us.

We just haven't come to the conclusion that it's important.

[colsohlibgal]

22. Thank You Barney!

The bloated military budget has been the huge pink elephant in the room for a long time. It's been just ridiculous even beyond the $900 screwdrivers.

I've heard a clip of Eisenhower, from circa 1952 (on Thom Hartmann's show) in which Ike points out that every bomber made means one less hospital, school, etc. Hartmann plays a lot of Eisenhower and in todays screwed up political baseline he would be seen as flaming liberal in many ways. Of course in his famous farewell address he stridently warned against letting the military-industrial complex acquire undue influence - unfortunately that scenario did happen.

One thing for sure - people who actually experienced war up close and personal, like Ike and JFK, were not eager to start one, as opposed to the semi illiterate draft dodging frat boy/fake cowboy we just had to endure for eight years.

[DesertFlower]

23. thank you barney. i

always wonder why the cost of the iraq war is never brought up by republicans.

[Enthusiast]

24. You aren't taking into account

that "THEY hate us for our freedoms and We have to fight them over there so we don't have to fight them here". No discussion is possible without those considerations. :sarcasm:

[baldguy]

25. The military is America's last sacred cow.

[OwnedByFerrets]

26. The 700 billion dollar elephant in the room.....

Thank you so much Barney Frank.

[Indenturedebtor]

27. Barney Frank is awesome. Maybe we need more gay people in Congress?

Well gay people who are not closeted Republicans anyways :D

I love that guy!

[demigoddess]

28. we should also discuss cutting money for Israel out of the budget.

If they are going to slaughter Palestinians, they should do it on their own dime.

[olegramps]

30. Isn't it insanity when we spend more than all other nations combined on the never ending rat hole.

[Raster]

34. Go Barney, go! The military/industrial complex and it's budget are bleeding this country dry.

Most members of Congress are "influenced" to one degree or another by the MIC, which exerts FAR TOO MUCH CONTROL over the affairs of this country. For every dollar spent on the MIC, one less dollar is spent on education. For every dollar spent on the MIC, one less dollar is spent repairing essential infrastructure. For every dollar spent on the MIC, on less dollar is spent on national health care. For every dollar spent on the MIC, one dollar less is spent feeding the hungry. For every dollar spent on the MIC, one dollar more finds its way into the coffers of corporations that advocate death and destruction because it's good for their bottom line.

Thank you Barney Frank for speaking so frankly. And please, stay off of small planes.

Wake up America!:kick:We Can Do Better!

[The_Commonist]

35. Sounds about right...

Don't we spend as much as the rest of the world combined?

[Octafish]

37. Right on, Barney.

K&R 64.

[Deep13]

38. They don't call him "Frank" for nothing. nt

[mmonk]

39. About time. Someone needed to ask it.

[certainot]

40. this is an eg of a discussion that can't happen with a talk radio monopoly

dominating the country and enabling the chickenhawks but would be easy in a real democracy.

[ccharles000]

41. Barney rocks

[cooolandrew]

42. Barney is really telling it like it is lately and hope he does at every available chance. >

He makes people look at the elephant in the room, damn that's big a** elephant. I can see some drawn down maybe covert operations needed in the afgahnistan area but in the end in times of hardship a big military of global bases is an obvious drain.

[marmar]

44. It's about time......Military Spending can no longer be an "off limits" subject.

Thank you Barney Frank. :applause: