Well, another nation, another place for US Taxpayers to subsidize. After Obama announced his strategy to expanding US military presence and occupation in Australia, the Aussies now dramatically cut their defense budget over the next 5 years. Australia is even projecting a nation budget surplus this year. I think we once again know who the suckers are here, it's the American Taxpayers.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nati...-1226351403400
Huge military cuts to hit many companies
- by: Brendan Nicholson
- From: The Australian
- May 10, 2012 12:00AM
AUSTRALIA'S defence industry has reacted with dismay to huge cuts in government spending, which will hit companies across Australia.
The workforce has lost about 3000 skilled employees over the past three years and now many more are likely to go.
It now numbers about 25,000 spread across hundreds of large and small companies. They manufacture everything from rifle bullets to parts for the revolutionary Joint Strike Fighter.
The Gillard government announced on Tuesday that in the coming year the amount to be spent on defense equipment would drop from the 2011-12 figure of $11.5 billion to $9.6b.
"To get that level of savings you've got to turn the screws everywhere," an industry official said.
"The big danger is that as the defence industry loses vital skills it will be very difficult to win them back."
Opposition defence spokesman David Johnston said the budget cuts showed the defence industry was fast becoming a non-viable enterprise.
"Given that we have had three years of Labor showing little interest in funding the grandiose plans of the 2009 defence white paper, the defence industry was already on its knees and losing highly skilled workers at a rapid rate," Senator Johnston said.
"All the funding cuts and deferral of new capabilities in Defence have been borne out of political expediency and have little to do with Australia's strategic position in the region or our national security needs."
Meanwhile, it emerged yesterday that the army agreed to "mothball" some of its giant Abrams tanks to save money while its crews were switched to operate light armoured vehicles to be deployed overseas.
The army bought 59 of the refurbished tanks from the US in 2006 for $500m and the budget papers released on Tuesday included the surprise announcement that some of them were to be placed in storage.
No explanation was given for taking the tanks out of service.
Obama Says U.S. Troops in Australia Will Preserve Peace, Security in Asia
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-1...on-secure.html
In addition to its value for trade, Chinese studies cited by the U.S. Energy Information Agency in 2008 said the South China Sea could hold 213 billion barrels of oil. While the sea borders several countries, China claims “indisputable sovereignty” over most of it, including oil and gas fields. President Barack Obama said the U.S. troops that will be stationed in Australia’s northernmost city will help ensure the security of vital sea lanes, as the U.S. moves to blunt China’s expanding influence.
Maintaining Defense
While in Australia, Obama sought to dismiss concerns that efforts to shrink U.S. debt would lead to cutbacks in the U.S. military presence in the Asia-Pacific region.
In his 25-minute address to Parliament yesterday, Obama said the U.S. is “a Pacific power and we are here to stay” regardless of spending constraints.
A special congressional committee is closing in on a Nov. 23 deadline to come up with a plan to trim the U.S. budget deficit by at least $1.5 trillion over the next decade. Failure to act this year would force $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts beginning in 2013, including $500 billion from the defense budget over 10 years. That would be on top of about $450 billion in Pentagon cuts already planned in the next decade.
“Reductions in U.S. defense spending will not -- I repeat, will not -- come at the expense of the Asia-Pacific,” Obama told Parliament. “We will allocate the resources necessary to maintain our strong military presence in this region.”
He said engagement in the region is “critical” for creating American jobs.
The U.S. this year has exported more to the Pacific Rim than to Europe. Obama has set a goal of doubling U.S. exports in five years, to $3.14 trillion a year by the end of 2014.
At the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit he hosted in Hawaii last weekend, Obama announced that the U.S., Australia and seven other nations will form a Trans-Pacific Partnership trade accord within a year, in what would be the biggest U.S. deal since the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement.
To contact the reporters on this story: Julianna Goldman in Bali, Indonesia, at jgoldman6@bloomberg.net; Margaret Talev in Bali, Indonesia, at mtalev@bloomberg.net
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When will enough be enough? How much further do they think the dollar will be stretched to? I really have nothing left to say about this g#%#%@# f^&*ed up government waste. Random keystrokes just don't do my frustration justice.
Originally Posted by AdelaideGUy
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