Inquirer - January 4, 2013

Now that the ship of state has navigated the fiscal shoals, Republicans in Congress are sharpening their knives to make some spending cuts, and you know those cuts will come from Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. Sixty percent of our discretionary budget goes to the Pentagon, and if you believe that's not trimmable I have a very nice bridge in Brooklyn I could let you have. Just start by thinking about 1,000 overseas bases now run by the Pentagon. For what? Just imagine what it costs us. Remember that a base is not just a base: it is an entire community with dependent housing, schools, officers' clubs, bowling alleys, and more. And we have a thousand of them! Let's make cuts there, and not in Grandma's retirement pennies. Walter Ebmeyer, Bryn Mawr, 484-380-2222.

Hi Walter. I agree with everything in your letter.

We have to end corporate welfare for the defense industry. I recently read about a tanker plane that the Air Force already has enough of that Congress is still forcing them to take. The parts are manufactured in 44 states. Obviously, the 88 senators from those states plus House members in the districts where the parts are manufactured are not going to vote to stop production of those planes. I have heard of similar incidences dating all the way back to the 1960's.

The cost of the unnecessary Iraq war is estimated at 2 trillion (a trillion borrowed and spent + interest on the debt + life time health care for the seriously wounded). Add to this another 500 billion for Afghanistan. We absolutely cannot continue to fight endless land wars one after the other.


Allan Kamph
Downingtown