Pentagon Faces Tough Sell on Base Closures

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Let's close all of the military bases and give American citizens $20,000 each for another round of "cash for clunkers" so Americans can go ahead and purchase new cars from Japan and further distroy our country. Or even better, use the money to bail out General Motors again. Or possibly just give it to the 49% of the people in this country that don't even pay taxes. I'm sure their drug dealer could use a boost in his profits too! In short, we are taking pay and benefits from the people that protect our nation so we can give it to the people who could care less.

Brian of IN 9:44AM March 12, 2012

Eielson AFB needs to close....

JoJo of AK 1:09AM February 05, 2012

If the "stimulus" money had been put into defense spending, a massive boost in real jobs and market strength would have occurred. Industries supporting the defense of the US are major employers, and the presence of military bases in an area injects money into the local economy. So far, the effectiveness of "stimulus" money can only be theorized, and is debated by many experts on both sides of the aisle.

Bob T Guy of MN 8:17AM January 30, 2012

This is what happens when local populations become dependant apon the Pentagon and the military as a way of life. The Pentagon should be in the business of National Defense... and not proping up local economies. We do it in America... and we certainly do it overseas. There are many bases... specially overseas that could have... and should have been closed years ago.... but politicians find it to be an arguing point when talk of closures come to the table. I dont see that individual state politicians have a say in the matter... when a base is no longer required... and has used up its strategic or tactical usefulness... then its time to shut down and migrate US servicemen to their next destination. Its not just a job... Its an adventure.

Robert Yarush 7:59PM January 29, 2012

The fear over the loss of JOBS is what drives the discussion of defense spending reductions rather than the affect on our national security.
For far too long there has not been the oversight and supervision of Defense Spending and the blame falls with both the Military, the Civilian leadership and the Congress.
The amount of waste has been massive and when reductions are proposed the typical approach is to wrap the flag around our troops and that does a disservice to all of us.
Serious change is necessary to the institutional Defense Structure as well as the Operational Structure but the right guards Defense Spending like the left does Social Security and Medicare.
The fact is that our countries national security interests can be protected with significantly less funding but that would require changes to the status quo and few if any want that.
If the conventional wisdom is that we need to spend over $450 billion + a year then the simple solution is to raise tax's to pay for that and then chip away at the cost of government.

geek of NJ 9:12PM January 27, 2012