Warbird Information Exchange

in facebook i found these 2 comments about 4 shows cancelled. here i post the links

Add Luke AFB and Dover AFB to the shows canceling in 2013... Will all USAF open houses cancel? It's possible...
https://www.facebook.com/AirshowStuff

Sequestration is already having an effect on our air show industry. Just today, the Air Force cancelled 4 air shows, Langley, Luke, Dover, and Seymour-Johnson Air Force Bases. Not a good sign.
https://www.facebook.com/RobAnnouncer

Not the first things I'd cut, but cuts do need to be made. We cannot bleed money forever and remain a world power. History is full of empires which spent themselves out of existance or into a second or third tier status.

Let me add they were all run by dictatorships and we are in one now.

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Hang The Expense

It's all about money and there just isn't any to spare for luxuries like airshows anymore...sadly. Unless there's an operational need or requirement, its not going to happen. This is just the beginning of the real belt tightening...

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"Everyone wants to live here (New Jersey), evidenced by the fact that it has the highest population per capita in the U.S..."

It may be about money but 1/2 of the budget cuts under sequestration come from the Defense Dept which makes up a little over 20% of the total budget.
http://armedservices.house.gov/index.cf ... 6d0444797c

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Rich Palmer

Remember an Injured Youth
benstear.org
#64- Stay Strong and Keep the Faith

BOOM BOOM, ROUND ROUND, PROPELLER GO

Don't Be A Dilbert!

But it has been better shielded from cuts than other parts of govt. The agencies I work with - FTC, DOJ, FDA, SEC, Fed, EPA, and the new FCPB - all police agencies of various kinds - have taken huge hits. I've seen what may now be in store for DOD, it ain't pretty.

August

No, this is about government control. This government can withstand a great deal of belt tightening if the correct priorities are set.

The effect of sequestration is to curtail the most visible government services to convince the public to give in to ever increasing taxes and government spending. This first thing the DOD wants to do is to let the public feel their pain. That sure is a lot easier than cleaning their own house by eliminating waste and fraud.

For the same reason politicians always threaten that cuts will take money from social security and medicare, rather than from the most wasteful and fraud ridden programs, because those are the ones their cronies pay (bribe) them well to vote for.

Sequestration is the best thing that could happen to the US IMHO. The other options are bankruptcy or total control of how you spend your wages & income by the government (i.e. you won't be left with much discretionary spending).

This whole sequestration thing could have been avoided if our elected officials had done their job in Washington. That's very hard to do though when it means that you have stop diverting tax revenue back to your union and corporate campaign donors. Now the political elite have about reached their borrowing limit too in reciprocating to their lobbyist cronies.

I think this should be moved to Military Matters so when this topic gets heated it isn't locked.
Be mindful that there can be no possible 100 percent agreement when discussing government or spending.
if you are going to get into this conversation, put on your big boy pants and hang on. .
I imagine that there are a few "liberals" that are regulars in here, if so, then add some thick skin and some body armor.

I'm just sayin'

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Kind Regards,
Gary Lewis
J.A.F.O.

There is lots of truth in this post.

I've stated this quote, I've written this quote, I've heard it stated and read it written. Not just at the federal level but with my state and local governments as well. I've spent a considerable amount of time (in my area anyway) harping about this exact quote. I couldn't agree more and have implemented the same set of standards with my own business and personal life. I still live well just the same ... and still can find plenty of time to play here too.

Pretty good post there Mr. bdk

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[Thread title is ridiculous btw]

I agree, bdk's post is sensible. But the rub is what are the "correct priorities", isn't it? This is the subject of that great ongoing conversation that we call democracy (and that hang the expense calls dictatorship). Should govt tax less, spend less, do less -- or more? Or just about what it does now? Some folks are sure that just about everyone would prefer that there be less govt, and that reason govt is so big anyway is mainly corruption, defying the will of the people. IMO there's not a lot of support for that view. People get about the amount of govt they demand, which may be vastly different from what they SAY they want. As you find out when you start picking on the favorite programs of the "small govt" types, whether it's defense or farm subsidies or the capital gains tax rate.

As it relates to the actual topic of this thread, our defense budget has shrunk from half the fed budget in the 1960s to 20% now, yet it is still about twice the %age of GDP of other developed democracies, more in line with lovely places like Iraq and Lebanon. Still some airshows to cut! It makes me wonder, even though we all understand that airshow-related expenditures are insignificant in the DOD budget -- how much does our govt spend on airshows as a %age of GDP compared with other countries? A lot I bet.

August

Keeping it non-partisan, I recommend this editorial from yesterday, written by a democrat, an independent and a republican, that explains the moral aspect to this story that people with kids and grandkids (and those without) ought to think about:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... on_LEADTop

Kinda makes cancelling a few airshows seem pretty insignificant.

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Rob C

Historically, the claim of consensus has been the first refuge of scoundrels; it is a way to avoid debate by claiming that the matter is already settled. “

– Michael Crichton

The bottom line is one person's 'pork barrel' is another's 'need'.
People can't seem to grasp that America, like any other country is a massive bunch of differing ideas and motivations. Anyone who thinks that any one view is America is very short sighted. No country has a simgle mindset on anything. Some of us here at this forum, for example, would feel that cancelling airshows or even go so far as to disbanding the Thunderbirds and Blue Angels as well as the Heritage Flight programs would be tatmount to melting down the State of Liberty for its scrap value. But plenty of other people would applaud such a move, saying we never needed to spend that money in the first place.
Who's really wrong in such a case? I sure can't say.
How many times have you heard a person griping about a raise in taxes or a levy for schools, and they don't have any kids so therefore feel they shouldn't have to pay?
Another good example is how I always though unemployment insurance was a total scam. That is, until I got out of the Army (right before 9/11) and nobody would give a chance to a former Captain with a college degree because they all assumed I was just going to be called back up for active duty (and the state was going through a recession at the same time). Then, it seemed awful important to me and I was wearing shoes out while looking for a job.
There are abuses everywhere (you can't imagine the money I wasted in the Army in the course of normal duty), but what is vital to one isn't vital to all.

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Life member, 91st BG Memorial Association
Owner, 1944 Willys MB #366014
Former REMF (US Army, O3)

Wow, just when I'm ready to throw in the towel on WIX, a real adult conversation and discussion (with one exception) takes place without spiraling into the ground.

Yeah, I don't want them cancelled, but perhaps (just perhaps) this artificial crisis that we've imposed on ourselves will lead to a real effort to get our fiscal house in order. Sometimes, you just need that burning platform........

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Best Regards;
Chuck Giese --- Volunteer helping to restore B-17G 44-85734 "Liberty Belle".