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"We have entered into a league with death, and we have made a covenant with Sheol. When the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come upon us: for we have placed our hope in lies, and by falsehood we are protected."
- Isaiah 28:15 Douay-Rheims Bible
According to an October 2 article in the Washington Post the first of the Navy's newest atomic powered aircraft carrier fleet is already over $6 million over budget. It is also years behind schedule, and was pushed forward before all of the key technologies for it were fully designed or developed.
Senator John McCain, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, calls it a debacle of a magnitude comparable to that associated with the F-35 fighter plane, the F-22 Raptor and the Littoral Combat Ship. "We simply can't afford to pay $12.9 billion for a single ship," said McCain in a Senate hearing held Thursday, noting that the second of three ships is already an estimated five years behind schedule.
In the same issue of our daily newspaper columnist George Will cites Henry Hendrix of the Center for a New American Security as saying aircraft carriers of this kind may already be outdated in today's era of unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs).
But none of this is likely to curb an outrageous level of spending by a death-dealing military-industrial complex with almost unlimited lobbying power.
Meanwhile, members of Congress quibble over a food stamp program that costs the national budget small change in comparison, and immediately benefits both food producers and the local economy. Our lawmakers have also recently ended health benefits to 9/11 first responders, insisting we can't afford to spend such money that we don't have, and in a way that further increases our national debt.
All of this is...
A. insane
B. immoral
C. outrageous
D. all of the above
Does this type of thing have more to do with national debt than taking care of human needs of the citizens?
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