Question about military draft

[Professor Mouse]

A draft will never occur again-especially with the slacker generation we have now.

Never have truer words been spoken, my good man.

 

[luvthatduke]

God bless you, Navy Guy!
And all the other military guys & gals cruising the Boards


Regarding the OP, the first thing that came to
my mind is the stale question regarding
how in the world Kerry, if POTUS,
would get the 40,000 needed that he projected?

I think the OP's original question was answered
in many enlightening ways...

 

[dmadman43]

Originally posted by shortbun
My new favorite bumper sticker,"Four More Wars!"

Distasteful but poignantly possible. If Bush means what
he says about no draft, he should end selective service
registration now.

That would be foolish and severly hamstring any future Presidents.

 

[dmadman43]

Originally posted by shortbun
no one here understands quite what the word "volunteer armed forces" means in the poor communities. For many young people,
it's join up or go hungry. $5.15 and no insurance does not
provide a stable life. I know a family living in a van right now-
a mother and three children. She will not move them into a
shelter because she's afraid they will be molested and she's very
slow to take help because she's so proud. These are the boys
who join "volunteer armed forces". You uppity republicans
sitting there in your warm homes not caring what is going on
in the real hard world make me sick.

So, your solution is what? I really don't see where the Federal Govt can fix this person's problem. How much should this person make for just any ol' job?

 

[dmadman43]

Originally posted by grumpy55
you think you are in the drivers seat? Try this on for size. The red states take much more from the ferderal government that they give. The blue give more than they take.

Because the demographics of the blue states but them in a higher tax bracket, likely.

Roe v Wade will be struck down in this term making abortion a state issue. It will be legal in blue states and illegal in red states.

Miss Cleo??? Is that you? This is as it should be, btw. The SC should not be making laws. And the Fed Govt should have no business sticking it's nose in this area. (Neither should the states, but that's a different discussion)

At what point do Ca or NY think " what the heck do we need them for"?

Are you suggesting seccession? Cool!!! Be gone with them!

So think about that while you encourage this devisiveness. And think about what has historically always led to downfalls.

Socialism? Communuism? Just guessing.

 

[Planogirl]

Again I ask...

Many conservatives seem to want a larger military. How will that be accomplished since the inevitable likelihood under the current system might be a smaller one as reservists reach the end of their terms of service?

Also, what about other countries with mean rulers? Are we truly done invading now?

 

[BuckNaked]

Many conservatives seem to want a larger military. How will that be accomplished since the inevitable likelihood under the current system might be a smaller one as reservists reach the end of their terms of service?

A larger military can only be accomplished if Congress changes the law and increases the size of the military. Once that happens, more people can enlist.

 

[Elwood Blues]

Originally posted by Planogirl
Again I ask...

Many conservatives seem to want a larger military. How will that be accomplished since the inevitable likelihood under the current system might be a smaller one as reservists reach the end of their terms of service?

Have they stopped taking in new sign ups?

And were was Kerry going to get an additional 40,000 troops for Iraq( that was his plan)?

And don't forget, we are pulling back quite a number of troops from Europe over the next few years.

Also, what about other countries with mean rulers? Are we truly done invading now?

Hard to say but I would hope so.

 

[poohandwendy]

Originally posted by Planogirl
Again I ask...

Many conservatives seem to want a larger military. How will that be accomplished since the inevitable likelihood under the current system might be a smaller one as reservists reach the end of their terms of service?

I don't want a larger military, I want what we already have in my opinion, the best military.

 

[shortbun]

Originally posted by Wish I lived in Fl
Seeing a lot of hardship here on Cape Cod. Few choices available for jobs, even less fulltime or with benefits....

So talking with a neighbor one day about a school override. She thought the $250/yr additional property tax for the next 10 years was insignificant. Actually she mentioned it was less than she was paying for swim lessons for her kids. I didn't say anything to her but that was the year we couldn't afford swim lessons for our 1 child. What was insignificant to her was a major sacrifice for us. We did vote for the override. Schools were 1/3 over design capacity.

Anyway, most people talk to other people in the same financial circumstances so though i wouldn't say 'uppity republican' i would say someone who may be unaware of the depths of hardships facing others.

Reccommend Barbara Ehrenreich(sp?) Nickel and Dimed: On Not making it in America.

A democrat in a cold house(62 degrees daytime, 60 at night)

You are WAY more diplomatic than I am. I've been subtle, I've
been polite, I've been cajolling. It doesn't get through. I've
bought several copies of Nickel and Dimed and passed them
out. They simply don't get it. To say they are "unaware" is an
understatement. They are unwilling to be aware of the depths
of hardships facing others is more like it.
"I'm madder than hell and I'm not going to take it anymore" is
a slogan that describes me at this point. When children are living
in vans, boxes, the woods, shacks without heat or food-America
needs to wake up. We have now spent billions to "get" Saddam
and "save" the Iraquis(who DID need saving BUT) with children
in our country being overlooked by our leader. Why? To keep us SAFE? We are NOT safe with all of these children at risk. Wake
up and smell the squalor America!

 

[Teejay32]

shortbun,

the van lady has three kids and is "slow" to take help, won't go to a shelter, no one else here knows who they are...which action should you take: (i) call in state child services, (ii) organize a drive for the family, (iii) take them all home with you, or (iv) verbally abuse Republicans on message boards?

Then can you explain to me why you went with (iv) and you're telling us to wake up?

 

[powellrj]

Originally posted by shortbun
no one here understands quite what the word "volunteer armed forces" means in the poor communities. For many young people,
it's join up or go hungry. $5.15 and no insurance does not
provide a stable life. I know a family living in a van right now-
a mother and three children. She will not move them into a
shelter because she's afraid they will be molested and she's very
slow to take help because she's so proud. These are the boys
who join "volunteer armed forces". You uppity republicans
sitting there in your warm homes not caring what is going on
in the real hard world make me sick.

WOW what a slap in the face to all of those who chose to serve. These are NOT the ones who join the volunteer armed forces. The military with an all volunteer force can pick who they want, just because you want to join doesn't mean they have to take you. My DS is a medic at Base Gabe, one of my best friends DS is a Doctor at Anaconda, my Dentist is an officer in the Navy Reserves, we have several teachers that are now on active duty, my congressman just got back from Cuba. I know for a fact that none of these people were homeless and living in a van and joined because they had no other options in life. They had call that they felt needed to answered. I know in my DS's case it was sitting in his warm house on the 2nd day of the bombing that he went down to the army office. He was in college at the time. So he wasn't some homeless kid that had no place to go. I think if you really cared about who joins, you will find that most come from middle class families who have a deep love of their country and feel that this is something they can do to pay it back.

Charles Rangle D/ NY was the first to propose the draft because he felt that too many minorities were serving, only to back off when he found that this wan't the case.

We are the REAL world and we live in it everyday.

 

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

powellrj is right, shortbun.
My DH is a reservist with a REAL job in the REAL world, but is now serving in Iraq. He has a master's degree, by the way. He is a commisioned officer, had to go through a lot to get to the rank/position he is today. He did it out of love for his country. He is very patriotic and proud to be doing his part now. He comes from a well to do family, BTW. I don't think you know what you are talking about.

 

[poohandwendy]

When children are living
in vans, boxes, the woods, shacks without heat or food-America
needs to wake up. We have now spent billions to "get" Saddam
and "save" the Iraquis(who DID need saving BUT) with children
in our country being overlooked by our leader. Why? To keep us SAFE? We are NOT safe with all of these children at risk. Wake
up and smell the squalor America!

Very passionate speech shortbun, but missing a very important fact...we already have MANY programs to help those living in vans and boxes. We offer food, shelter, clothing, daycare services, education, employment services, emotional counselling and more to ANY ''woman living with her children in a box or van''. The programs are there for the taking. Enter any church, police station or school and you will be pointed in the right direction.

There is NO reason for a woman in a van with her children not to takew advantage of it. If she doesn't, you can place the blame on her shoulders.

 

[crazyforgoofy]

Originally posted by BuckNaked
A larger military can only be accomplished if Congress changes the law and increases the size of the military. Once that happens, more people can enlist.

Yeah, I've heard that thousands and thousands of young men and women are standing in line just waiting for "increases in the size of the military" so they can sign up. It's getting deep in here!

 

[poohandwendy]

Originally posted by crazyforgoofy
Yeah, I've heard that thousands and thousands of young men and women are standing in line just waiting for "increases in the size of the military" so they can sign up. It's getting deep in here!

All of the U.S. Military services, with the exception of the Army and Air National Guard met their recruiting and retention goals for Fiscal Year 2004 (which ended on September 30), according to Department of Defense (DOD) recruiting documents.

The Army enlisted 77,587 soldiers through September, besting the year's goal by 587 soldiers.
Through Sept. 29, the Navy reported that it enlisted 39,874 sailors, bettering its goal by 254 sailors.
The Air Force said it enlisted 34,362 service members for the year, topping its recruiting goal by 282 people.
The Marine Corps reported it had enlisted 36,794 service members for the fiscal 2004, which topped its goal by 21 enlistees.
The Coast Guard recruited 3,809 over their recruiting goal of 3,800. It should be noted that the services purposely do not exceed their recruiting goals by large factors, because this may cause them to exceed the authorized active duty strength levels imposed by Congress.

Instead, before the new fiscal year even begins, the services start signing many recruits into the Delayed Enlistment Program (DEP), so they will enlist on active duty and ship out to basic training during the next fiscal year (in effect, getting a "head start" on the next fiscal year's recruiting goals).

Even though the the services are only a few days into the new fiscal year (FY 2005), thousands of recruits are already waiting in the DEP. The Army is a little worried because they have significantly fewer members in the DEP at the start of this fiscal year than they had at the beginning of FY 2004, but officials admit that FY 2004 began with an unusually higher number of recruits in the DEP (as compared to prior years).

Last year, the Army had about 35 percent of their FY 2004 recruiting goal waiting in the DEP at the start of the fiscal year. This year, the number has decreased to about 18 percent. However, officials anticipate few problems meeting their FY 2005 goal. To help ensure this, the Army is planning to put 1,000 more recruiters into the field and make more agressive use of enlistment bonuses and other enlistment incentives throughout FY 2005.

Meanwhile, the Air Force and the Navy have decreased the number of recruits they will be enlisting in FY 2005. Both of the services are over their congressionally-mandated active duty end strength, and must decrease in size by the end of the fiscal year.
Unfortunately, the National Guard is not doing as well. Both the Army and the Air National Guard reported that they'd missed their 2004 enlisted recruiting objectives. Many people join the National Guard with the expectation of part-time service (one weekend per month, and four weeks per year). However, in the past several years, it's become more and more common to mobilize National Guard forces to supplement active duty combat deployments. Some Guard members find themselves recalled to active duty for periods of one to two years. As of October 6, there were 173,335 members of the Reserves and National Guard who were mobilized in support of the "War on Terrorism."

Surprisingly, however, while the Army and Air National Guard missed their FY 2004 recruiting goal, the Army, Naval, Marine Corps and Air Force Reserve said they'd met their recruiting goals for the year.

 

[Laura]

Originally posted by poohandwendy
Very passionate speech shortbun, but missing a very important fact...we already have MANY programs to help those living in vans and boxes. We offer food, shelter, clothing, daycare services, education, employment services, emotional counselling and more to ANY ''woman living with her children in a box or van''. The programs are there for the taking. Enter any church, police station or school and you will be pointed in the right direction.

There is NO reason for a woman in a van with her children not to takew advantage of it. If she doesn't, you can place the blame on her shoulders.

Well then, I suppose that explains why so many homeless children remain on the streets. Our programs are doing so well.

 

[poohandwendy]

Well then, I suppose that explains why so many homeless children remain on the streets. Our programs are doing so well.

Maybe one should ask their parents why they are not taking advantage of the programs?

 

[Laura]

Originally posted by poohandwendy
Maybe one should ask their parents why they are not taking advantage of the programs?

Sure, why don't you? And why don't you ask these parents what happened to get them on the streets and in vans in the first place? There are so many jobs going around, so much money sunk into social programs, all that baloney I keep hearing. If these programs worked, and if there were enough jobs, we wouldn't have the homeless/jobless issues that we have now. And then I hear some say that these programs just allow people to be career welfare recipients (more baloney). Well, why are they on welfare? Why can't they get jobs? Conservatives say that people should be responsible for themselves. I agree. But how are kids responsible for what happens to their parents?

Shelters are crowded, there aren't enough jobs that these people are qualified for, some people don't have enough education and can't take the time to go back to school. Not everyone qualifies for aid. And it's their fault? If it were so easy to lift oneself out of poverty, why doesn't everyone who is poor do it?

 

[gottaluvPluto]

For a person to be living on the streets it is THEIR choice. The poorest Americans are actually rich compared to poor people in other countries. Our poor have cars, or some kind of transportation, they have clothes, a roof, food, an AC, furniture, health care, some have a phone, and they have electricity if they can remember to pay a bill. If they can't pay a bill then they can get help from a program that will pay the bill. The programs are wonderful and they do their best. You have to put some blame, to a degree, back on the people for making the choices they did. I work with low income or no income families and I see the choices they make or lack of a choice. Once again, if a person is living on the streets it is THEIR CHOICE.