Democratic and Liberal political analysis and commentary

Ever wonder why the U.S. budget is bloated and why we spend more on national defense than all the other nations on earth COMBINED?

Look no further than the F-22 fighter. This plane, first put on the drawing board in 1981 and envisioned as an air-to-air combat fighter plane to be used in the cold war against the former USSR. Initially, the price tag was announced as 40 billion dollars for 880 planes. Now, it's estimated that only 150 of the planes will be purchased at a cost of more than 350 million apiece, more than ten times the original price, for about one-sixth the planes.

According to many experts, the F-22 fighter's avionics and technology were obsolete from the get-go. So why is it still being pushed by Congress? Lockheed and Boeing, to name a couple of reasons. Jobs and research and development dollars are a powerful cocktail for congress. So are campaign contributions. Which must be why when the democrats gained control of congress in 2006, the majority of contributions from these firms switched from republicans to democrats.

The plane has fared poorly in test flights and is not even anywhere near production. At over five times bigger than its predecessor, the F15, the plane is a giant moving target for enemy fire.

Experts who have examined the Pentagon's budget estimate that it could easily be cut by 10% and we would be able to defend ourselves and even modernize the military. But no one is courageous enough to get this done and return those dollars to the American people, who are mesmerized by the fear-mongers in Congress who would have them believe that we have bigger enemies than our own congress.