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If the us government owns the bow and arrow, it calls up the contractor that made the arrow and orders another one. The taxpayers foot the bill.

klyrs 3y ago
Do the taxpayers actually foot the bill? Or does the government print money, and recover taxes to prevent runaway inflation? And what happens if we stockpile munitions and don't use them? They age, get destroyed and replenished. The military is continually burning money to keep its stockpiles up to date anyway, and if we're sending stuff to Ukraine before it expires, that accelerates the replenishment, but I'd argue that it's better than the alternative.
- hanniabu 3y ago
  > Do the taxpayers actually foot the bill? Or does the government print money, and recover taxes to prevent runaway inflation? Taxpayers, aka citizens, foot the bill in both cases
- wernercd 3y ago
  The rampant inflation from "government print money" seems to show that yes, even if we aren't paying for it directly (and our 30t+ in debt says we are paying for it.)... we are paying for the "print free money" at the gas pump, the grocery store, etc.
  - klyrs 3y ago
    Alternate perspective: grocerers and oil producers form cartels and raise prices to line their pockets. The only people whose wages are beating inflation are at the executive level, and they really love it when you point pitchforks at the government and not them.
    - wernercd 3y ago
      realistic perspective: it's not a single problem. Oil producers and cartels raise prices because... money's being printed. Because Biden shuts down new pipelines, slows oil leases, is hostile to energy production. Demand craters because of lockdowns that don't work... then ramps up because the world tries to return to normal after a "pandemic". Almost like an increasing demand with a dipshit anti-energy President is going to have disastrously bad results. Seriously though... the problem isn't "evil companies" doing shit like making money (how dare they!). The problem is multifaceted. Did you have an issue when companies closed at record levels because of bad decisions that caused the slowdowns? Or were you cheering because those companies got what was coming? do you think that the surviving companies don't deserve profits after years of losses?

klyrs 3y ago

Do the taxpayers actually foot the bill? Or does the government print money, and recover taxes to prevent runaway inflation? And what happens if we stockpile munitions and don't use them? They age, get destroyed and replenished. The military is continually burning money to keep its stockpiles up to date anyway, and if we're sending stuff to Ukraine before it expires, that accelerates the replenishment, but I'd argue that it's better than the alternative.

hanniabu 3y ago
> Do the taxpayers actually foot the bill? Or does the government print money, and recover taxes to prevent runaway inflation? Taxpayers, aka citizens, foot the bill in both cases
wernercd 3y ago
The rampant inflation from "government print money" seems to show that yes, even if we aren't paying for it directly (and our 30t+ in debt says we are paying for it.)... we are paying for the "print free money" at the gas pump, the grocery store, etc.
- klyrs 3y ago
  Alternate perspective: grocerers and oil producers form cartels and raise prices to line their pockets. The only people whose wages are beating inflation are at the executive level, and they really love it when you point pitchforks at the government and not them.
  - wernercd 3y ago
    realistic perspective: it's not a single problem. Oil producers and cartels raise prices because... money's being printed. Because Biden shuts down new pipelines, slows oil leases, is hostile to energy production. Demand craters because of lockdowns that don't work... then ramps up because the world tries to return to normal after a "pandemic". Almost like an increasing demand with a dipshit anti-energy President is going to have disastrously bad results. Seriously though... the problem isn't "evil companies" doing shit like making money (how dare they!). The problem is multifaceted. Did you have an issue when companies closed at record levels because of bad decisions that caused the slowdowns? Or were you cheering because those companies got what was coming? do you think that the surviving companies don't deserve profits after years of losses?