03 Economy – Page 186 – Public Intelligence Blog

US Military Budget False and Real — Click on Image to Enlarge

Tomgram: Chris Hellman, $1.2 Trillion for National Security

Here’s the thing: the House Republicans are going after their version of unsightly pimples on the body politic — the programs they and their billionaire sponsors find ideologically unpalatable — without seriously considering where our money really flows. We at TomDispatch thought we might lend a hand to Congress’s deliberations this week by offering something new: the first real figure on what American taxpayers actually pay for the Pentagon, the U.S. military, homeland security, our distant wars, the care of veterans, intelligence, and every other aspect of our national security and war state.

. . . . . . .

$1.2 Trillion: The Real U.S. National Security Budget No One Wants You to Know About

by Chris Hellman • March 1, 2011 www.tomdispatch.com

What if you went to a restaurant and found it rather pricey? Still, you ordered your meal and, when done, picked up the check only to discover that it was almost twice the menu price.

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2011/03/102011/03/10

Director of National Intelligence Self-Destructs…Again

03 Economy, 07 Other Atrocities, 10 Security, 11 Society, Budgets & Funding, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Government, Intelligence (government), Reform

Senator: Remarks about Libya ‘should be the final straw' for Clapper (CNN)

Clapper lambastes Russia; wait, isn’t Joe Biden in Russia? (The Hill)

U.S. Intelligence Chief Says Qaddafi Has Edge in Conflict (NYT)

US should keep up Lebanon military aid: intel chief (AFP)

Losing Libya III (PajamasMedia)

Phi Beta Iota: We used to admire Jim Clapper, so much so that a member of our collective issued a press release in his defense when Donald Rumsfeld fired him for telling the truth. General Clapper appears to have forgotten how to tell the truth, and he is not leading the US Intelligence Community, he is administering it with cronies assigned to administer the various agencies. There is no longer intelligence at the top of the intelligence community. It is time for a full-spectrum house cleaning, to include the conversion of the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence, which is not needed, into the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Peace Operations, which IS needed. Mike Vickers is not qualified for either position.

Media Spin: Clapper told the truth. Reality: Clapper is out of touch with reality–he cannot even outline the ten high-level threats to humanity or explain why continued fragmentation of the US Government is the greatest threat to our near term as well as a long term stability and prosperity. Russia and China are not military threats to the US but rather economic threats, and in the case of China, a demographic and scientific & technology threat. The Old Guard is dead, may they rest in peace. Sadly, there is no bench within the US Intelligence Community OR the contractor world. We anticipate nothing beneficial for our $90 billion a year.

See Also:

Obama to Clapper: “Disappointed.” Duh.

Journal: Reflections on Integrity

Journal: Politics & Intelligence–Partners Only When Integrity is Central to Both

Review: Ideas and Integrities–A Spontaneous Autobiographical Disclosure

What’s Right with America? Let Me List the Books…

2011/03/082011/03/08

Michael Moore on the Class War & Looting of America

01 Poverty, 03 Economy, 07 Other Atrocities, Civil Society, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence

Recommended!

Phi Beta Iota: Two items are included in full below the line in sequence. To read them in their original online form, here are the two headlines:

How I Got to Madison, Wisconsin …a letter from Michael Moore

Michael Moore: The Smug Wealthy Have Gone Too Far — And We're Finally Fighting Back

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2011/03/07

Pentagon Contractors Baby Gaga on Steroids

03 Economy, 07 Other Atrocities, 10 Security, 11 Society, Commerce, Commercial Intelligence, Corporations, Corruption, Government, Military, Money, Banks & Concentrated Wealth, Officers Call, Peace Intelligence, Politics of Science & Science of Politics, Power Behind-the-Scenes/Special Interests, Strategy, Technologies, Waste (materials, food, etc)

There is no doubt that, Pentagon Labyrinth is a first rate piece of work. However it did fail to mention an additional factor in defense procurement costs that is often overlooked and that is the need to subsidize U.S. defense industry giants such as Lockheed Martin, Northrop-Grumman and General Dynamics. This also explains the over elaborate use of sub-contracting since the boutique sub-contractors used by the defense giants often produce key components for weapon systems so also must be given a portion of the subsidies. Boeing is the only major defense contractor that even makes a pretense of also dealing in commercial aircraft. Lockheed, Northrop, and General Dynamics along with their networks of sub-contractors are virtually entirely dependent on government contracts or contracts from the government’s foreign clients for their continued existence.

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2011/03/062011/10/22

Four Time Bombs Centered on Wall Street

03 Economy, 07 Other Atrocities, 09 Justice, 10 Security, 11 Society, Budgets & Funding, Civil Society, Commerce, Commercial Intelligence, Corporations, Corruption, Counter-Oppression/Counter-Dictatorship Practices, Cultural Intelligence, Government, Misinformation & Propaganda, Money, Banks & Concentrated Wealth, Power Behind-the-Scenes/Special Interests, Reform, Waste (materials, food, etc)

Paul B. Farrell

March 1, 2011, 12:01 a.m. EST

Four time bombs that will blow up Wall Street

Commentary: Too late to jail bank CEOs; only revolution will succeed

By Paul B. Farrell, MarketWatch

Phi Beta Iota: Highlights include extimate that US is 44 trillion in debt; that nothing and Administration does will stop Wall Street–this is now so bad the author believes a revolution (as in swarming homes and offices and demanding the return of ill-gotten wealth) will do. We do not agree. Yes, it is bad. No, recovering the stolen money will not do. The silver lining in all this is the obvious decrepitude of governments and corporations; the now obvious toxic nature of information asymmetries and data pathologies; and the less obvious but emergent need for a) restoring the integrity of the US Electoral process through Electoral Reform 2.2 ; and b) creating the Autonomous Internet so as to achieve Panarchy and create a prosperous world at peace in which transparency eliminates corruption, fraud, waste, and abuse, starting in the USA.

READ ORIGINAL POST WITH FOUR TIME BOMBS DEFINED

Safety Copy of Entire Story Below the Line

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2011/03/042011/03/04

US-Korea Trade “Deal” is Dumb & Dirty

02 China, 03 Economy, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, 11 Society, Commerce, Commercial Intelligence, Corporations, Corruption, Government, Misinformation & Propaganda, Money, Banks & Concentrated Wealth, Power Behind-the-Scenes/Special Interests, Waste (materials, food, etc)

“What will N. Korea do with the money it gets from the U.S.- Korean Trade Deal?” Watch the video | Stop U.S.-Korea NAFTA

Conservative Congressman Walter Jones (R-NC) explains why Korean trade agreement threatens national security | Stop U.S.-Korea NAFTA

Conservative Pundit and Constitutional Scholar Bruce Fein on the Loss of U.S. Sovereignty under KORUS | Stop U.S.-Korea NAFTA

The North Korean Kaesong Sweatshop Zone

2011/03/01

RED FLAG: State Revenue Estimates Hosed

03 Economy, 11 Society, Budgets & Funding, Government

ERRORS IN STATE REVENUE ESTIMATES GROWING IN SIZE AND FREQUENCY

WASHINGTON — States have been making more serious errors in estimating their revenues during tough economic times, according to a new report by the Pew Center on the States and The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government. This has significant implications for policy makers who need to know how much money they will have to spend on programs and services as they grapple with severe budget shortfalls.

The report, States’ Revenue Estimating: Cracks in the Crystal Ball, found that in fiscal year 2009—the first of the ongoing budget crisis—half the states overestimated revenues by at least 10.2 percent. That equated to an unexpected shortfall of nearly $50 billion in personal income, corporate income and sales tax revenues. In a year when state policy makers faced $63 billion in mid-year shortfalls—coming atop $47 billion they already had closed when crafting their budgets—this was a significant challenge. States had to close the gaps by cutting spending, increasing taxes and fees, tapping reserves and borrowing.

The study found that the primary culprit driving more serious and frequent errors is not the states’ processes, methods and techniques, but rather, the increasing volatility of the revenue streams themselves. This appears to result from states’ growing reliance on income taxes and the ways in which highly fluctuating capital gains affect income tax revenue.