How We’ll Crush al-Qaeda – With Tanks

Congress appropriated $436 million over the last two years on the Abrams M1 tank,
but, now, faced with the sequester's $487 billion in cuts over the next ten years, that's one item where we can save, right?

Of course not. The Pentagon wants to halt tank production. They apply to neither our current wars nor theoretical conflicts over the horizon. No less than Army Chief of Staff Ray Odierno says that in this time of budget crisis, the army would rather use the money on sensible alternatives.

But in deference to Republican Sen. Rob Portman and Rep. Jim Jordan, both of Ohio, Congress just authorized another $255 million to keep the treads rolling in Lima, Ohio, which Jordan represents. Jordan says, "The one area where we are supposed to spend taxpayer money is in defense of the country". As Stephen Colbert said, "The other area, his district". But we don't mind spending $255 million of our money on seeing to it that these two fine legislators get re-elected, do we?