I'm very curious as to what Obama will do with the Defense budget. With the shitty economy and the need for large bailouts and stimulus packages, we're gonna be running mega-deficits for a long time. Do we really need to keep on spending more on defense than the rest of the world combined? Our current defense spending as a % of GNP is way more than at any time in the Cold War.
I think to avoid a collapse of the dollar, we have no choice but to make huge defense cuts. Quite a lot of our defense expenditures are still geared toward the Cold War, and do nothing to help fight terrorism (e.g. the F-22).
Cutting programs from the DoD could be problematic because of resulting job losses. I doubt anyone in the government wants to do anything that will cost jobs right now.
Quite a lot of our defense expenditures are still geared toward the Cold War, and do nothing to help fight terrorism (e.g. the F-22).
Yeah, I think the F-22 could be a fight. I think it's been about 30 years or more since the Air Force has had a new fighter design so there is a bit of falling behind newer fighters like the Sukhoi 27, Dassault Rafale, Saab Gripen, and perhaps others. OTOH, I don't know if there is any reason for the F-22 with the less expensive F-35 coming up.
I doubt anyone in the government wants to do anything that will cost jobs right now.
Yeah, it sounds like the Obama transition team is worried about double digit unemployment happening.
I keep thinking back to Sarah Vowell on TDS saying, "I cried when Bush beat Gore because I thought he'd ruin the nation's water supply. It was a failure of the imagination."
Yeah, Gud, unless they're UAW workers.
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Btw, Jesse, I happened on MTV Jams the other night and was thinking of you while I watched Li'l Wayne pop up as guest dude in about ninety thousand videos.
I know I'm old because I only know Lil Wayne by reputation.
and the bitchiness I felt was replaced by sympathy and a big smile for them when it came time to take my order.
On behalf of all retail employees everywhere, I thank you!!
I had a real PITA customer last Saturday who just couldn't get over the fact that the journal tape ran out midway through printing out her receipt. I had to get the manager up to cancel the purchase so I could re-ring it for a new receipt, and then she threw a hissy because our software doesn't allow for her to get a copy of the paperwork saying that the old transaction had been cancelled. The manager ended up running into the backroom to copy our paperwork for her, and she just stood there fuming while we waited for him to return. Talk about uncomfortable silences! I tried a bit of chit-chat to lighten the mood and she was having none of it.
On top of it all, she blamed me for the journal running out in the first place, which I would have caught if the end of the paper had its usual green markings on it, which it didn't. She claimed that she could tell it was running out and that I should have as well, but I don't see how she would have known.
Oh, well, it's those customers that give us the horror stories we tell our families on Christmas Day.
