Manns Medium

As a former military member, anything that has something to say about the military will always spark my interest.   This article by Donna Cassata of the Associated Press titled Health care costs a hefty price tag for Pentagon is no exception.   Since some find approaching this topic as lethal as touching the third rail in the subway, I’ve decided to offer another way of thinking about this. The article mentions that “costs of the program that provides health coverage to some 10 million active duty personnel, retirees, reservists and their families have jumped from $19 billion in 2001 to $53 billion in the Pentagon's latest budget request.   The explosive expense of health care rivals what the Pentagon shells out to buy fighter aircraft, submarines and high-tech weapons, and is about half of the $118 billion that the Obama administration wants in the next budget to fight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.”   The problem really isn’t whether the receiver should pay...

Cable news was filled with Secretary of Defense Gates and Admiral Mullin’s testifying in from of congress each show displaying bits and pieces of that testimony about the Libyan Conflict.   After watching them, I was lucky enough to locate the entire occurrence on C-Span.   I wanted to see the entire event myself to make up my own mind about the progress of or the lack their of.   What I saw was not what I had expected. Washington is broken because each party believes that it is more about them and their party than it is about anyone or anything else.   To a person lawmakers used the phrase “the American people” as if it made what they had to say much more important than the previous questioner.   Frank speak by both Admiral Mullen and Secretary Gates was not seen as someone getting straight honest answers but if it was not what that particular lawmaker wanted to hear, it was taken offensively.   There’s a war in Washington and “the American people” are th...