Replies to post #124642 on Biotech Values

[vinmantoo]

Dew,

Thanks for the link, but I did know about the nice start in agricultural cuts for ethanol subsidies. I was imprecise in my commentary as I was talking more broadly about agrticultral subsisdies.

As far as defense cuts, I recently finished reading an excellent biography of Dwight Eisenhower by Stephen Ambrose. Eisenhower was pretty a pretty amazing guy, who in my view doesn't get enough credit for the job he did as a president. That may have a lot to do with his failures and inaction on civil rights issues. Anyway, NATO was his baby and one of the major achievements of his administration. NATO and the Marshall plan played major roles in stabilizing Europe and helping unify it.

Here are two things about NATO and defense that really struck me. First, while Eisenhower was the driving force behind NATO, he didn't envision the US as a the permanent force it is there now. There was supposed to be a transition with a unified European defense force playing the major defense role. Eisenhower said that if the US was still the major military force in Europe in 10 years, then it would be a failure. The Europeans are playing us for chumps as we spend a boat-load of money to defend them, while they spend their money themselves.

Second, Eisenhower repeatedly mocked those who kept pushing for ever more military spending as if there were a direct correlation between the amount spent and the level of our security. This was most apparent in the irrational push towards more and more nuclear missiles. He stated that the military would never be satisfied and always make a case how additional spending is needed. Of course, we all know his famous warning about the rising power of the military-industrial complex and the famous "cross of iron speech" regarding the costs to society of military spending. Sadly what he feared has come true in a way that exceeded his worst fears.