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This Is An American Hero


icanthearyou

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I'm not sure if we went to war over money but I do know that companies like Oshkosh made bank because of the war.

I say good for them.

I do too. You can't deny they didn't have an invested interest in the war from a business standpoint though. I don't know if they influenced politicians any. I'm just saying.
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I'm not sure if we went to war over money but I do know that companies like Oshkosh made bank because of the war.

I say good for them.

Privatize the profits, socialize the dying?

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I'm not sure if we went to war over money but I do know that companies like Oshkosh made bank because of the war.

I say good for them.

What about the country?

"

Ten contractors received 52 percent of the funds, according to an analysis by the Financial Times that was published Tuesday.

The No. 1 recipient?

Houston-based energy-focused engineering and construction firm KBR, Inc. (NYSE:KBR), which was spun off from its parent, oilfield services provider Halliburton Co. (NYSE:HAL), in 2007.

The company was given $39.5 billion in Iraq-related contracts over the past decade, with many of the deals given without any bidding from competing firms, such as a $568-million contract renewal in 2010 to provide housing, meals, water and bathroom services to soldiers, a deal that led to a Justice Department lawsuit over alleged kickbacks, as reported by Bloomberg."

"

According to the bipartisan Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan, the level of corruption by defense contractors may be as high as $60 billion. Disciplined soldiers that would traditionally do many of the tasks are commissioned by private and publicly listed companies.

Even without the graft, the costs of paying for these services are higher than paying governement employees or soldiers to do them because of the profit motive involved. No-bid contracting - when companies get to name their price with no competing bid - didn't lower legitimate expenses. (Despite promises by President Barack Obama to reel in this habit, the trend toward granting favored companies federal contracts without considering competing bids continued to grow, by 9 percent last year, according to the Washington Post.)

Even though the military has largely pulled out of Iraq, private contractors remain on the ground and continue to reap U.S. government contracts. For example, the U.S. State Department estimates that taxpayers will dole out $3 billion to private guards for the government's sprawling embassy in Baghdad."

Those who believe the government is incapable and should privatize more of it's functions are delusional. The number of federal employees has remained stagnate while the government has grown of the last fifty years. In other words, privatization may in fact, be the problem. Perhaps the problem is not that government is inherently inefficient but rather, that the private sector, combined with government, is inherently corrupt.

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I'm not sure if we went to war over money but I do know that companies like Oshkosh made bank because of the war.

I say good for them.

Privatize the profits, socialize the dying?

Cute slogan. Make a bumper sticker out of it.

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I'm not sure if we went to war over money but I do know that companies like Oshkosh made bank because of the war.

I say good for them.

Privatize the profits, socialize the dying?

Cute slogan. Make a bumper sticker out of it.

Is that not what you are advocating? I believe you and, your blind loyalty to an ideology, are corrupt.

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I'm not sure if we went to war over money but I do know that companies like Oshkosh made bank because of the war.

I say good for them.

Privatize the profits, socialize the dying?

We need a draft.

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Absolutely. Big gov dying but private profiteering, baby!

Then you are too stupid to understand the consequences. We have been privatizing the functions of government for well over fifty years. That has led to the corruption. That has fueled the growth. Private interests hiding within the social constructs of government IS the problem.

You are cheering for the the exact same thing you are demonizing. You are either a fool or, you are part of the corruption.

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I'm not sure if we went to war over money but I do know that companies like Oshkosh made bank because of the war.

I say good for them.

Privatize the profits, socialize the dying?

We need a draft.

Those with wealth or influence always find a way to avoid a draft, if they choose.

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I'm not sure if we went to war over money but I do know that companies like Oshkosh made bank because of the war.

I say good for them.

Privatize the profits, socialize the dying?

We need a draft.

Oh yeah, draft those 18-year-olds. Those guys over the draft limit don't have a damn thing to worry about. Bring it back!

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Need to be privatizing far more government then we have already. There's no corruption in government? IRS targeting ? Benghazi ? Healthcare? Who's the stupid one here ?

Oh, and in case you didn't understand my point, I'm mocking those who think that profiteering is itself evil. It really isn't.

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Need to be privatizing far more government then we have already. There's no corruption in government? IRS targeting ? Benghazi ? Healthcare? Who's the stupid one here ?

Oh, and in case you didn't understand my point, I'm mocking those who think that profiteering is itself evil. It really isn't.

Feed the beast. You should look at the number of Federal employees for the past 80 years. The more we privatize, the more government grows. Profit motive is growing the government. Government's function is to serve the greater interests of society, not to further any ideology, not to make a few wealthy and powerful.

Profiteering by coercion or manipulation of government is evil. Profiting by the misery of others is evil.

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Need to be privatizing far more government then we have already. There's no corruption in government? IRS targeting ? Benghazi ? Healthcare? Who's the stupid one here ?

Oh, and in case you didn't understand my point, I'm mocking those who think that profiteering is itself evil. It really isn't.

Feed the beast. You should look at the number of Federal employees for the past 80 years. The more we privatize, the more government grows. Profit motive is growing the government. Government's function is to serve the greater interests of society, not to further any ideology, not to make a few wealthy and powerful.

Profiteering by coercion or manipulation of government is evil. Profiting by the misery of others is evil.

slow-clap-gif.gif
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Yes, my wife worked for a contractor a few years ago, for a short period. It was a scandal from the start. First it was a huge conflict of interest, the company owner retired from military and his mom was in some position in ACOE that hands out contracts. There were 5 people who performed the service for the COE at a somewhat fair salary. Then a dozen or so drawing ridiculous salaries with the owner pulling millions. A full blown racket. The ACOE could have hired these five guys at a better salary and benefits for decades and still save $ overall.

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Yes, my wife worked for a contractor a few years ago, for a short period. It was a scandal from the start. First it was a huge conflict of interest, the company owner retired from military and his mom was in some position in ACOE that hands out contracts. There were 5 people who performed the service for the COE at a somewhat fair salary. Then a dozen or so drawing ridiculous salaries with the owner pulling millions. A full blown racket. The ACOE could have hired these five guys at a better salary and benefits for decades and still save $ overall.

Profiteering off government is as old as government itself. We've just taken it to a whole new level. Eisenhower predicted it.

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American hero thread. Sorry I allowed myself to veer off topic.

It was expected. Like I said, you just can't resist.

Not like I'm the only one.

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Yes, my wife worked for a contractor a few years ago, for a short period. It was a scandal from the start. First it was a huge conflict of interest, the company owner retired from military and his mom was in some position in ACOE that hands out contracts. There were 5 people who performed the service for the COE at a somewhat fair salary. Then a dozen or so drawing ridiculous salaries with the owner pulling millions. A full blown racket. The ACOE could have hired these five guys at a better salary and benefits for decades and still save $ overall.

Profiteering off government is as old as government itself. We've just taken it to a whole new level. Eisenhower predicted it.

Defense spending is <15% of total federal outlays...that is hardly our issue related to gov't spending...we spend $3.8T.

If gov't can't employ people to do a job; then it must go to the private sector. Given that, it must pay market rates. The simple answer is gov't tries to do to damn much; it should be cut down to do the things it can reasonably do...it can't balance the books of something as simple as delivering the mail. Why would you think it can handle something as complicated as handle the healthcare of 330m people.

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