Posted on 02/18/2011 1:06:43 PM PST by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON (AP)—The House has voted to let the Pentagon continue using taxpayer dollars to sponsor NASCAR race teams.
By a 281-148 vote, lawmakers rejected an effort by Minnesota Democratic Rep. Betty McCollum that would have ended the practice. McCollum aides said the Army is spending $7 million on a sponsorship this year, and the Air Force and National Guard are spending additional money.
McCollum said the military spends the funds to place decals on race cars and for a few driver appearances. The armed forces hope the sponsorships will help them attract recruits.
(Excerpt) Read more at sports.yahoo.com ...
That's a good one; I like that!
I'm trying to decide if your nonsense is anti Nascar or if your nonsense is anti military.
My "nonsense" is neither. You think we should borrow millions from the Chinese to put a sticker on the side of a stock car that says Army, when the nation is already printing money? I don't. It's just a symptom of the same ol' disease: federal spending.
"There is NO WAY that sponsoring a NASCAR team is even REMOTELY Constitutional." Prove that or shut your pie hole.
Art 1 Section 8 of the Constitution does not discuss continuous "recruiting" for the army like we are doing; it talks about "raising armies". Now it does discuss maintaining a Navy, so a case might be made for "recruiting" for it:
"To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years; To provide and maintain a Navy; To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;"
But even that's beside the point. We have a large enough Army and Navy now, and we're out of money.
Maybe you just don't like to see money well spent...?
I don't like to see the Federal government spending ANY more money, well-spent or not. Can we not forgo NASCAR just ONE YEAR in the depths of this crisis? We should, and forgo a LOT more besides.
Good move, Republican Pubbies!!! Let the millions of diehard NASCAR fans who do everthing to support our military folks and their dear families see what low life vermin the Democrat Party is made up of!!! Shame on all Democrats. I have a word for them, “Traitors”, starting with their failed POTUS, Obama!!!
I think you may have a valid disagreement with the Constitutional issue, but I will counter, along with my ROI comment, that there is no other group more supportive of the military, up to and including giving their sons and daughters for the protection of out country and way of life than Nascar fans.
No doubt about it, and I support out troops as well as NASCAR.
No doubt about it, and I support our troops as well as NASCAR.
Well you still leave me with the same question as you stated we could do with NASCAR advertising for a year.
So which is it? NASCAR or advertising for recruiting purposes.
You should know the numbers prove that advertising via NASCAR is 1/4 of their advertising budget BUT YIELDS 1/3 OF THEIR NEW RECRUITS. So NASCAR would seem to give the US Taxpayers more bang for their Military buck. Pun intended.
In fact, most advertisers have found NASCAR regardless of your opinion of them, to be one of their best advertising dollar investments.
If one the other hand you just want to stop all funding for recruiting then OK that is fine and something I could support given our financial position, assuming you have another method for recruiting which does not involve a draft.
By the way, the Military is one of the VERY FEW things the Constitution MANDATES and you might want to focus on things that are not MANDATED.
That is better than what it says about "maintaining" a navy.
Raise.....support....RECRUIT.
Money is approved year by year.
It does not say, "no $$ can be spent on recruitment."
/EOT
I agree. Anyway, I don't see any sense of urgency about our fiscal condition out of this Congress. They just keep buying NASCAR advertising, monkey sex studies, breast pumps and handing out government EBT cards like there is no tomorrow. And you know, if we keep spending, maybe there won't be a tomorrow.
False dichotomy. It's not either-or, it's ALL OF THE ABOVE. I want the federal government to cut its spending across the board.
By the way, the Military is one of the VERY FEW things the Constitution MANDATES and you might want to focus on things that are not MANDATED.
Look, I know the Constitution mandates a navy and raising armies. But it's beside the point.
I know I'm losing this argument because both the military and NASCAR are sacred cows. So I probably should just shut up about this.
You win! Have a happy weekend.
No, you weren’t losing and make a very good point. There is a lot of waste in the military that could be cut without affecting overall efficiency and probably have enough left to give our troops a raise.
To my knowledge, Nascar does not receive any federal tax dollars, other than the advertising. The tracks and roads to and from are at least partially tax payer funded, but it’s more on a local level.
:)
I am retired military and I just love the taste of cows!
lol
You do bring up some good points but, in the scheme of things, there are way bigger fish to fry than the real, tangible benefits the military realizes from money spent on Nascar advertising.
I've been going to the races here at Las Vegas for 8+ years. This track is a stones throw from Nellis AFB. The military schedules their events to coincide with race weekend, the fan gets two shows for the price of one...you get to watch the F-15 taking off, race the 24 car down the back stretch. This is the home of the USAF Thunderbirds - Sunday is just flat out amazing. First ya get to see the air show (no additional charge), then the ground show.
Nellis AFB support has been huge for race weekend, frequency management, air space management (helo's from the strip), traffic, parking, etc.)
And every year there is a mass induction ceremony, folks enlisting in the USAF, in front of a most appreciative crowd.
This town loves the military. This town loves Nascar.
And we be just one track on the circuit!
Nascar and the military have a great relationship. Nascar drivers visit the troops overseas, do fund raising efforts for families, etc.
The military gets a whole lot in return for their advertising / sponsorship $$.
This is not the place to look and play bean counter.
I was not looking to “win” but it was a genuine question as to your objection.
I fully agree fedzilla is spending our money on things they have no legal authority to do. All foreign aid for example.
I just could not fully understand if on this issue the objection was to NASCAR or Advertising in general. If it was just to NASCAR I would have to disagree as according to the Military they are getting the biggest bang for the buck from that venue.
If on the other hand your objection is to military advertising in general that is worthy of honest and civil debate. IMO, if advertising dollars were fully cut off, then another method would be required for recruiting and I would not be in favor of the draft.
Nor am I. I think that is another unconstitutional thing we have done. I mean, if we have freedom of association, how can the state compel us to its service? It doesn't make sense.
When there is a need, Americans step up voluntarily, so there is no need for a draft. My uncles volunteered for WWII and Korea (Dad couldn't; flat feet). I tried to sign up after 9/11, but they didn't want me (too old)).
Sounds like a cost-effective approach to recruitment to me.
It is, but it is not needed right now. We are well above recruiting levels and we are way above the debt level. We should put this money on hold for awhile and bring it back when we rid ourselves of this budget. Right now the services are kicking people out due to having too many people staying in.
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