Posted on 07/25/2014 7:10:34 AM PDT by US Navy Vet
Former speaker of the House Newt Gingrich said Wednesday that he would like to “turn the Pentagon into a triangle.”
“I always tell people I’m a hawk,” Gingrich said. “But I’m a cheap hawk.”
Gingrich honored the 20th anniversary of his “Contract with America” by pointing conservatives back to a key point in his Republican blueprint, arguing that federal bureaucracy cannot simply be “fixed” but must be overhauled and replaced.
The Pentagon, Gingrich stressed, must be included in this overhaul.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailysignal.com ...
Newt Gingrich is one of the few people who actually understand the US government structure. How it is and how it should be. Our problem is not the military but the bureaucracy. There are too many Chiefs and not enough Indians. The military would be 100% better as a triangle. It would be stronger not weaker.
Until we actually cut out about 50% of the bureaucracy from the US govt nothing will change. So far Newt and Rick Perry are the only two guys who can bring themselves to identify any agencies of govt they could bear to do without.
Good post. The real waste never gets cut, because the real waste exists as political payoffs to supporters. So the spear gets trimmed at the pointy end...
Cutting back on NATO subsidies is one way to focus the Europeans attention. The facts you cited about how most European bases have now been closed is a good example of how little they care about their own security.
Personnel is by far our highest cost and will always be unless we resume conscription. The older soldiers I meet are horrified when I tell them about the hoards of unwed mothers and guys with 15 children on Champus/Tricare (I am not kidding, actually had a father of 15 by 6? different mothers). Bottom line is that the Romney boys and Sununu boys don’t want to serve. We have to pay high salary and benefits to lower enlisted folks and that is expensive.
If you reduce the escorts the Iranians or Chinese may do some carrier “reductions” for us.
Are you suggesting that there isn’t top heavy bloat in the military?
Never said THAT(DID I?).
67% of all statistics are made up on the spot.
Cheap hawk is the kind who cuts veteran health for greed.
The Pentagon, like the Departments of State, Education, HHS, etc. has its own share of self-preserving bureaucrats that sometimes work counter to the constituency they are supposed to serve.
His solution is to cut this bureaucracy down and appropriate the saved money to combat troops and combat equipment, thus transforming the Pentagon into a “triangle.”
This USMC combat veteran says "Ooooh Rah!" to Newt.
One of the reasons that the Pentagon hasn't gone entirely paperless is because our infrastructure is vulnerable. What happens if an enemy knocks out the power or takes down communications if everything is stored electronically?
This thread has shown me yet again why I’m not a Republican.
Loud cries about all the waste, fraud, and abuse in the government. The first mention of cleaning any of it up in the DoD, and people act like you’re some kind of commie. Sacred cows/ gored oxen.
Did you even read what he said about cutting bureaucracy and investing the savings in troops and equipment?
Good grief people can be so damned dense sometimes.
“Did you even read what he said about cutting bureaucracy and investing the savings in troops and equipment? / Good grief people can be so damned dense sometimes.”
Yes, and it was MEANINGLESS because it had ZERO specifics!
WHAT bureaucracy does he want to cut? Is it the part that manages acquisition, to prevent the fraud that occurs when Congress gives money directly to people in their own states to turn out things no one in the military wants?
Does he want to close bases? WHICH bases, and why?
Does he want to keep us at our tiny level of F-22s? Does he want or oppose the F-35? Is he like those folks in the 70 who wanted to cut “waste” by rejecting the F-15 and F-16?
Exactly WHAT do YOU think Newt wants to do? In your own words, what programs / equipment / personnel does he want to cut? Do YOU realize there is no line item in the budget called “waste”?
Gingrich’s Contract with America: The Power of Conservative Ideas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9we5yBxGSjc&list=UU5bEfSFTYQVfLCwkhBt8NtQ
Jul 23, 2014
In 1994, after languishing in the minority for 40 years, the Republicans decided to stop being the me-too party. They took a principled conservative stand against the reigning liberal dogmas — and won big, taking control of Congress. Key to this victory was Newt Gingrich’s Contract with America, a conservative agenda that rallied Americans in favor of limited government and promised to reform the way Congress worked.
Nothing, but national defense is actually a legitimate constitutional duty of the FedGov.
Before we go there, can we cut the following departments first?:
Energy
Commerce
Education
Agriculture
HHS
Transportation
We could loose all of the above, with little impact or necessity for transfer of responsibilities, and we’d save folks a ton of cash.
Of course, if you want to cut the military (some more), the just do the following: Whack the air force.
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