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Sound-off
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Progressives Love Military Pork!
One of the issues associated with spending by our government is the huge amount devoted to wasteful military spending. I think it would be worthwhile to highlight some of the unexpected enablers of this spending. I live in Vermont, and our politicians (Senators Patrick Leahy, Bernie Sanders, Congressman Peter Welch, and Governor Peter Shumlin) all have progressive reputations. One might think that they would be critical of unnecessary military spending. Yet when it comes to the F35, an overpriced and underperforming weapons system, they suddenly get transformed into lovers of military pork. In particular they want the F35 to be based in the Burlington area, something the Air Force itself says is NOT an economic or environmental boon in its own Draft Environmental Impact Statement. The aforementioned politicians refuse to debate or discuss the matter in any meaningful way with the grassroots opposition. So while these politicians burnish their reputations as "progressive," they quietly feed at the trough of military pork. In the meanwhile there are members of the grassroots movement against this basing who have deeply researched this matter and would make these politicians seem like fools if they were to debate the issue.
I'm sure our politicians aren't the only ones who engage in this type of behavior, but I think highlighting this behavior on your platform that provides national exposure would do much to drive the debate about foolish military spending in a more rational direction.
I will gladly provide more information. The following websites may be of assistance:
http://www.stopthef35.com
http://saveourskiesvt.org/whatsupnow/
A person worth contacting who has been a leader in the grassroots movement against the local basing of the F35 is Rosanne Greco. She is a retired Air Force Colonel and Chairperson of the South Burlington City Council, one of the local political entities that has taken a stand against local basing of the F35. Her e-mail is rosanne05403@aol.com.
Thank you for your attention to this important matter.
Igor Zbitnoff
Winooski, VT
I'm sure our politicians aren't the only ones who engage in this type of behavior, but I think highlighting this behavior on your platform that provides national exposure would do much to drive the debate about foolish military spending in a more rational direction.
I will gladly provide more information. The following websites may be of assistance:
http://www.stopthef35.com
http://saveourskiesvt.org/whatsupnow/
A person worth contacting who has been a leader in the grassroots movement against the local basing of the F35 is Rosanne Greco. She is a retired Air Force Colonel and Chairperson of the South Burlington City Council, one of the local political entities that has taken a stand against local basing of the F35. Her e-mail is rosanne05403@aol.com.
Thank you for your attention to this important matter.
Igor Zbitnoff
Winooski, VT
- TAGS:
- sound_off,
- progressives,
- spending,
- hypocritical,
- f-35,
- defense,
- comment,
- wasteful
- GROUPS:
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- Sound off
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