Hitler, the Nazis, the Holocaust, have become, sadly, and oddly, a form of pop culture, and not just any pop culture, but a hyper-real form of culture perpetuated by the omnipotent and fate-sealing power of the “algorithm”.Quinton Mitchell
I call it Nazi Pop.
I understand that history should be taught and preserved. I also understand that having different content creators helps analyze topics form different perspectives. However, I think there should at least be more disclaimers relating to Nazi content or at least some sort more intensive vetting process including but not limited to peer-review for YouTube videos on the subject. Also, creators of such content should have to disclose their public identity rather than hide behind avatars.
A large chuck of the profit percentage should go to charities such as those dedicated to Holocaust education or hate-group watchdog groups.
It seems many content creators have learned that making videos about Nazis is an easy way to get paid, yet many people don’t care about the money but rather they are potential Nazi sympathizers who have adapted to not seeming radical but instead brand themselves as “amateur historians”. For example, the YouTube pages such as the Zoomer Historian and History-at-War.
Sure, not everyone talking about Nazis are bad and the intent is often educational. Yet, even with these good faith actors the need to make money off Nazi content still stands. For example, let us look at lovable and iconic YouTube creator, Simon Whistler.
When I type in Simon Whistler Nazi on YouTube I see the following videos. Why Did So Many Nazis Choose Argentina to Flee to After WWII? (on Today I Found Out); Why Did So Many Nazis Choose Argentina to Flee to After WWII? (on Into The Shadows); Adolf Hitler – The Rise of a Fanatical Fuhrer (on Biographics); The “Nice” Nazis (on Sideprojects); War and Drugs – WWII Soldiers Go Mad on Meth (on Brain Blaze); Inside the Meeting that Engineered the Holocaust (on Into the Shadows); The Rise and Fall of the Nazi War Machine (on Warographics); The 1936 Olympic Games: Nazi Germany’s Gambit (on Into the Shadows); The “XX System”: How MI5 Made Fools of the Nazis (on Into the Shadows)…and honestly, there is at least 20 plus more.
I must stress that I think Simon Whistler is a legitimate content creator interested in sharing snippets of lost history.
Him aside, we have to be real there are likely Attomwaffen SS sympathizers etc. secretly making ambiguous pro-Nazi videos.
This is what I am saying. Is it education or entertainment? Sure, I have hope that humanity has learned its lessons but…we do live in a world that does seem to be dangerously flirting with a nostalgia for strong-men fascism, largely as a means of curbing the externalities of global capitalism (mass migration, free trade, etc.), which ironically is controlled by those who often fund…fascism.
In other words, the elite capital class are responsible for most of the world’s social ills but while they make profit, they also fund isolationist, nationalist, and often racist regimes because these fascist regimes often side with capitalism, especially as a means of opposing egalitarian ideas such as communism.
Elon Musk is the avatar for everything negative I am stating or insinuating in this post. An alleged “autistic savant”, Sorrow of Young Werner, edge lord, “Sit on my face” (Grandma’s Boy film reference), billionaire capitalist who panders to right wing grifters because they are more so aligned with the economic ideology that enables him to exploit, loot, scam, borrow, fake it till he makes it, and profit, etc.
I call this tendency to make Nazi videos for money on YouTube as being Nazi Pop. Nazi Pop Culture.
There seems to be something going on. There are a lot of “historical analysis” videos dedicated to “studying” (cough – worshipping) the Nazis, especially with a target audience comprised of Millennials, Zoomers, and this odd new “Newsweek”-coined generation called “Generation Alpha”. It is as if there is a bot farm spewing out these Nazi historical analysis videos as a means of subconsciously brainwashing a new crop of unwitting racists, “race realists”, etc., notably in the wake of a world that is unfairly – in my opinion – rallying against “wokeness”, where said “wokeness” is often, but not always, code-word in conservative circles for anything that is not white, straight, male, capitalist, selfish and likely Christian.
“Whiteness” has cleverly positioned itself as an “oppressed” status group, however, the political left often can’t help but to not use “whiteness” as the target to most of its own philosophical juxtapositions. Adding to this, because of the burdens of globalism, climate change, poverty, and wars, many refugees have fled into the Global North, thus causing race realist nationalism to rise.
The political left – though not wrong in its political and economic analysis of contemporary issues, at least from a pure analysis standpoint, as opposed to real life political experiments – often uses whiteness as the focal and starting point for many of its analytical arguments, and this, therefore, helps create a situation that actual white supremacist can exploit by providing a “safe space” for the often lost, frustrated, guilty, etc. White people who are tasked with analyzing their privilege but then rejecting the guilt associated with it when they feel they are being unfairly singled out, and at worst, disarmed from self-defense from the basic truths of human nature beyond race or color.
In other words, many white people feel they can’t defend themselves while also being blamed for the ills of society, and many people reject these feelings and are often recruited by bad faith actors who want to inculcate them into race realism, racism, Nazism, etc. Yet, the left or liberals can often be dismissive of this sentiment, but being dismissive doesn’t mean it goes away. However, this does not mean we need to coddle or excuse the truths of toxic masculinity, entitlement, the hypocrisies of patriarchy and the male gaze onto the female form, racism, etc.
I am not saying that whiteness, colonialism, capitalism, patriarchy, etc., as is, as they are linked in our contemporary society, are not topics worth studying, however, the folly of let’s say…Marxists analysis…is that it reduces everything to base “non metaphysical” material that is in need of study, analysis, etc. Yet, my argument is that human nature is sure able to be understood, yet most humans are not thinking too deep about social issues besides simply trying to survive in peace. Also, my rebuttal to a full acceptance of applying Marxist analysis is that life is inherently…nonsensical and absurd. The Marxist tries to reduce everything to realist, evolutionary struggle in a sort of godless universe where no objective truths actually exist besides the truths we can analyze based on our evolution as a species, here and only here on Earth, based on understanding the crux of class throughout space and time. Sounds somewhat reasonable.
But why do we make art? Why do we do anything? What’s the point? The point is there is no point but there is a point. Life has purpose and in theory doesn’t. Life is a walking contradiction but because it is, we naturally apply some level of metaphysical justification to our actions. Sure, we can debate about the scope and scale about how we apply metaphysical explanation or justification to sustain our existences, yet, still humans often operate indifferent to being “analytical nerds” where everything is seen as a mindless construction of petty human efforts.
The tin-foil hat in me thinks that our current racial situation is in part manufactured. A sort of dialectical warfare situation where those at the top, typically the capital owners, use race as a means of disguising the institutional power that ironically helps maintain the one percent. The left thinks it is immune to this, but I suspect this is not the case because those at the top, are smarter than given credit for, considering that the left spends so much time in analyzing them. The one percent needs a racially divided proletariat in order to maintain the systems that maintains their power, yet, oddly, when someone says that “things are rigged” notably in matters of race, I notice the political-left itself is often dismissive of this allegation (which I can understand because such as allegation can be used lazily as a means of not deeply analyzing systemic power, however, it is naïve for the left to not admit that pitting the races against each other has always been a key strategy in debasing proletarian and labor-centric power). However, those on the Left don’t want to be dismissive of marginalized groups voices by prioritizing class consciousness over intersectionality, so if anything, it’s on said marginalized groups to accept that such divisive strategies are possible, but it may ironically not be good strategy for historically oppressed groups to acknowledge this considering the status quo can use this as a means of furthering silencing specific causes. Just one of the many seemingly, damned if you, demand if you don’t Catch 22’s we live under.
With the toxic revolt and reaction against diversity and inclusion, I, as black man who grew up largely in predominately white environments (which, I admit were often positive experiences, but yes I have experienced blatant racism), I notice on YouTube that many “content creators” are uploading videos dedicated to studying Nazism.
And, sure, there’s a lot of unpackage there, but I often suspect more sinister intentions. The phenomena are similar to the notion or trop of the “edge lord”. Instead of seeing what the Nazis did as bad, rather the Nazis are “pornified”. From their Hugo Boss uniforms, their innovations (rockets, synthetic oils, jet engines, the interstate systems, intercontinental ballistic missiles, propaganda, etc.), their national unity, etc., there is something that many people seem to deeply want to emulate. That is the sad thing about these YouTube videos for example. Many but not all seem to be about nostalgia rather than analysis of evil.
We must remember than since 2012 for example, which was the era that kicked off the police brutality riots – often against black people – than many college age people were children. Many have adopted the tenants of social justice to varying degrees, but others see social justice as establishment. This therefore opens the opportunity for actual Neo Nazis, who have innovated into doing video essays online, owning video game Reddit communities, etc., the ability to recruit a new crop of followers or apologists.
At first, the book White Noise by Don DeLillo creeps up in my mind. In that book, the main character, Jack Gladney, is the professor of Nazi Studies at some Midwest college, yet the character of Gladney was used by DeLillo as a means of detailing how even a monster such as Adolph Hitler became a sort of pop culture commodity in a postmodern and post-capitalist world. Even Family Guy by Seth MacFarlane pointed fun at this with his Hitler talk-show in his cartoon.
Even atrocities of wars gone by and the lessons thereof which should humble us as a species, instead become commodities or a means of gaining an income.
DeLillo’s prophetic words in his 1985 National Book Award winning novel (which were not done with justice in the 2023 movie adaptation in my opinion) sort of became reality. Hitler, the Nazis, the Holocaust, have become, sadly, and oddly, a form of pop culture, and not just any pop culture, but a hyper-real form of culture perpetuated by the omnipotent and fate-sealing power of the “algorithm”.
John David Norman (born 10/13/1927, died 5/22/2011) California Death Certificate No. 3201110002677 is known as one of the United States most notorious pedophiles and…he may be another character in the ant colony of characters involved with the JFK assassination. Jeffrey Epstein seems to have nothing on this person.
It is my impression that if true, Norman’s involvement is an example of the very dangerous underworld that was behind the JFK and later RFK assassinations.
This underworld was the cross juncture between state law enforcement and intelligence agencies with that of the criminal underworld (involved in gun trafficking, drug trafficking, laundering, contract killings, pornography, and sexual content featuring minors). The State has always had ties to criminal organizations either to get informants, infiltrate foreign governments, move weapons/money/drugs, incriminate enemies, and make the careers of aspiring bureaucrats.
We will never really know who killed JFK directly, but his death is a symbolic representation of where the underworld meets the mainstream world. Big business, mob-controlled unions, the Mafia, law enforcement, intelligence agencies, the military, etc., are all layers.
But back to Norman, he created an industrial scale operation for illicit content depicting minors that spanned decades until his eventual incarceration at a California mental asylum and then later death. His operation involved various newsletters that acted as a sort of “back page” or brochures that sold minors to pedophiles across the globe. But Norman despite being arrested multiple times in multiple jurisdictions, often using confusion across police jurisdictions and aliases to avoid detection, was essentially…let off the hook for nearly 50 years.
The thing is, Norman with his rolodex, black-book, and memory of names/numbers, likely had dirt on very influential people who likely still needed to get their “fix” while Norman was able to provide. There are two proven cases of rolodexes associated with John David Norman having gone missing, where one was destroyed by the US State Department which was confirmed by Matthew Nimetz in 1977 after John Norman was investigated by the Chicago Tribune journalist Michael Sneed (pronounced Michelle) for crime in Illinois. [See: https://archive.ph/MkYUC/c6e92138f14b14e3b86c692223c5c14841b5837a.jpg]
Why would the State Department take or destroy his files? It could be possible that incriminating information found in his index cards could be helpful to the US government to bribe officials, etc.
In Episode Two of the Clown and Candyman by ID Discovery, Norman fled to Homewood, Illinois and police there led by Frank Flannery found another batch of index cards. Homewood PD gave the cards to the Chicago P.D. but the cards were never seen again.
In other words, John David Norman made himself an indispensable part of the world of pedophilia so he was likely kept around for fear of what information may leak if he were to be killed or imprisoned, etc. Norman, even admitted if the index cards ever got out it would send shockwaves.
John David Norman’s heyday was before the internet, before Amber Alerts, etc., where mail was often not checked, and the general public was ignorant about the mass abuse of minors notably of young boys (often because a naive conservatism about the world).
John David Norman was featured in the Clown and the Candyman docuseries which ties serial killer Dean Corll of Houston, TX to John Wayne Gacy of Chicago, IL. In the documentary, it was John David Norman’s name was mentioned during a Dallas area sting operation into pornography featuring minors.
While arrested for his Illinois crimes, Norman (who went by multiple aliases and was described as being a “jailhouse lawyer”) met a young local hoodlum named Phil Paske, who wanted in on Norman’s national/international “boys for sale”/child content ring. Paske, interestingly was an associate for John Wayne Gacy, going so far as working for Gacy’s PDM Contractors and having a key to Gacy’s house. Gacy while in jail alleged, he didn’t kill all those boys and young men found under his house.
To add more insanity to the situation, a later crew of Satanic serial killers called the Ripper Crew (yes, for real – i.e., I am not trying to push “Satanic panic”).
Further, another Chicago area serial killer Brian Dugan alleged he has been assaulted by Gacy (where Gacy was known for “cruising” for young males).
So, think about that, Gacy had possible ties in varying degrees to multiple serial killers, which to me sheds light on how serial killers were often “cleaners and fixers” or “sharks” for larger parts of the underground economy such as sex trafficking and illegal pornographic content.
But, what about Norman?
Norman may actually link to the confusion web of plays, plots, and subplots involving the assassination of John F. Kennedy and by extension Robert F. Kennedy (where RFK was shot by Sirhan Sirhan who may have had ties to California gangster and nightclub owner Eddie Nash, who thereafter had ties to the Corsican Mob – themselves known for the French Connection, and some theories concerning the JFK assassination such with Lucien Sarti).
Norman in 1973 was arrested in Dallas at his apartment at 3716 Cole Avenue by Detective RC Nelson, just one week after Dean Corll was killed by one of his youth accomplices, Elmer Wayne Henley in Houston.
Norman was arrested through an anonymous tip from a male sex worker living in San Fransisco, yet, Henley down in Houston told authorities after being arrested himself that Dean often bragged about being part of a larger ring.
Yet, earlier in the 1960s, Jack Ruby who killed Lee Harvey Oswald, may have moved from 500 Marsalis to 223 South Ewing St., apartment 207″ and “Receipt for $40 deposit on 223 South Ewing is signed by John D. Norman.
Jack Ruby was alleged to have been a homosexual with his possible lover, George Senator, etc. This room at this Ewing St apartment was a boarding room type apartment.
Regardless, if this receipt of Jack Ruby was indeed signed by the same John D. Norman, then this opens the players involved in the JFK and later RFK plot to the underworld of child trafficking. If this is indeed the same Norman, then this seems to link back to the New Orleans branch of the larger JFK conspiracy. But, why?
The infamous case of Boy Scout Troop 137 in New Orleans from around 1974-1977 involved many men but notably a Raymond Woodall, and Woodall’s name was found in John David Norman’s rolodex during his arrest in Dallas. This Troop 137 case by proxy allegedly had ties to former District Attorney, Henry Connick, Sr., who was known for having shelved the case files of previous D.A. Jim Garrison who connected CIA affiliate, Clay Shaw to the JFK assassination. CIA Director, Richard Helms admitted to Congress that Shaw was a member of its Domestic Contact Service. Shaw was an associate of David Ferrie (a Bay of Bigs CIA affiliated pilot and disgraced aspiring Jesuit priest with a penchant for young boys), who was an associated of Lee Harvey Oswald, notably during Oswald’s younger days in the Civil Air Patrol.
New Orleans during this period of the pre-planning of the failed Bay of Pigs invasions involved Cuban nationals, Civil Air Patrol pilots, the Italian Mob under Carlos Marcello (with links to Florida’s Trafficante Family), and a dirty cop turned New Orleans P.I., Guy Bannister, etc.
In 1976, detectives Frank Weicks Jr. and Gus Stansbury of the New Orleans Police Department received a call from a film developer in Dallas TX after it was discovered the film developed involved minors, and this later implicated Boy Scout Troop 137. In the case, detectives stated they had come upon a photo a person, largely understood to be a Robert Lang (an alias), where this person was photographed wearing multiple military uniforms. This connection to Dallas further links to John David Norman. Both detectives invited an FBI agent to review the files they had found but the FBI agent never returned after a four to five interview.
My belief is that this man was likely David Ferrie known for wearing disguises, or possibly it could have been Frank Sturgis who served in multiple branches of the US military. Both Ferrie and Sturgis ran arms to Cuba.
Lee Harvey Oswald may have killed the President, but he still had very odd “few degrees of separation” connections considering CIA spymaster Richard Bissell had a loose connection to Lee Harvey Oswald when Oswald was stationed in Japan under the secret U2 program. Bissell interestingly made contacts with Chicago Outfit mobsters Johnny Roselli and Sam Giancana (both murdered); James Jesus Angleton had a 201 File, i.e., a personality file, on Oswald which is a Wet or Liquid Affair File relating to assassinations, and later CIA director Richard Helm under oath admitted that Clay Shaw was a member of the CIA’s Domestic Contact Service. Shaw was an associated of David Ferrie with Ferrie an associate of Oswald; CIA banker Paul Helliwell who financed the operations involved in the Bay of Pigs invasion [Operation 40, Brigade 2506, Cuban Democratic Revolutionary Front, Crusade to Free Cuba Committee] that was managed by Richard Bissell – largely with veterans of the successful CIA overthrow of Guatemala, and the failure of that plot is what drove David Ferrie to make public comments about killing JFK, etc.
Paul Helliwell was a member of OSS Detachment 202 in China during WWII where he worked with future CIA spooks Lucien Conien (a French American who had ties to the Corscian Mob and later became head of Nixon’s drug policy under the Federal Bureau of Narcotics which became the DEA. Conien was also involved in the November 1, 1963 coup and Strategic Hamlet Program in Vietnam); John K. Singlaub who managed the Secret War in the Golden Triangle during the Vietnam War and had ties the World Anti-Communist League (which had ties to Far-Right groups, racists, etc.); E. Howard Hunt who was involved in the Bay of Pigs and Watergate, and Mitchell Werbell III.
Also, anti-Communist zealot, Guy Bannister, an ex-FBI member with ties to Chicago, later turned “Red Squad” cop in New Orleans and then later a P.I. had ties to Oswald via the Newman Building where the Pro-Castro organization Fair Play for Cuba Committee was in the same building that housed Anti-Castro Cuban expats who wished to overthrow Castro.
This seems strange but there was a murky time before Castro was on the bad list of the USA, where the US supported Castro, which seems similar to the older Dixie Mission of the US Army making relationships with Mao’s rebels in China during the Chinese Civil War [See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Sturgis#Section – Moves to Cuba, joins Castro forces]. Oswald may be a left-over of US support for Castro yet didn’t adapt to the shift that as the US became vehemently Anti-Castro. If Oswald were truly a Communist and not some sort of double-agent, stooge, etc., he must have been delusional to think the US at that time would ever have an appeasement policy with Communism.
CONNECTIONS:<<<<A>>>JFK Conspirators (Locations: New Orleans, Dallas, Chicago, South Florida. Organizations: CIA, The Italian Mob such as the Marcello Family, Trafficante Family, and Chicago Outfit, and its Corsican Mob subcontractors, Dixie Mafia, The Gay Underground, etc.) <<<<B>>> Lee Harvey Oswald <<<<C>>> Jack Ruby who ran strip clubs in Dallas but was from Chicago originally <<<<D>>>John David Norman > (1) Dean Corrll? and (2) John Wayne Gacy/Phil Paske/Ripper Crew and (3) Boy Scout Troop 137 with Raymond Woodall and via Richard Halvorsen <<<<E>>> Richard Halvorsen under alias John Douglas had ties to Rev. Bud Vermilye’s Boy’s Farm Scandal in Tennessee <<<F>>> Boys Farm had possible links to various web of shell companies dedicated towards children involved with those responsible for the North Fox Island Scandal by Francis Shelden – and possible ties to the Oakland County Child Killings<<<<G>>> Francis Sheldon had ties to an Adam Starchild, alias for libertarian fraudster Malcolm McConahy who was included in the Boy Scouts America Perversion Files (See: https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.documentcloud.org/documents/471954/1051.pdf). Starchild helped Sheldon flee the USA and Sheldon had ties to Edward Brongersma who was a Dutchmen who advocated for legal pedophilia. Norman was known to have sent minors to “sponsors” over state and international lines, but foreign nationals, US government officials, etc., were alleged to have used the trafficking services of Boy Scout Troop 137.
Notes/Nodes
I call these “nodes”. I have 5 main nodes in this post (more as well) which represent 4 distinct narratives. The NXVIM-Benghazi Node (regime change, human trafficking, drug smuggling, bank havens). The Star Wars SDI – WWI/WWII Node. Also, how prolific Serial Killers had ties via child abuse networks and some allegedly had ties notable events such as the JFK/RFK assassinations
Pizzo_Exh_453-A_Oswald_leaflets_New_Orleans. Photographer not credited – Originated from the report of the Warren Commission a US Government report. From WH Vol.21 p.139. http://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh21/html/WH_Vol21_0082a.htm Border cropped before upload. Lee Harvey Oswald and others handing out “Fair Play for Cuba” leaflets in New Orleans, August 16, 1963
Version 1 posted on 8/17/2023. Version 2 updated on 8/18/2023. Version 3 updated 8/22/2023. Version 4 updated 8/27/2023.
I. Digging into the Hawaii Emergency Management System anddebunking the rumor that only $700 was given in Federal Aid to Maui Fire Victims
Disclaimer: This section about Hawaii despite having some research backing my thoughts is speculative. I am not putting any personal blame or libelous claims on any companies, government officials, etc. The general theory is that the fires were started by downed power lines in conjunction with environmental conditions, e.g., dry grasses. However, I wrote this specific section of this paper on Hawaii to research more about the emergency siren system itself, its possible OEMs (official equipment manufacturers), etc.
Sadly, in early August 2023, there were multiple fires on the Hawaiian Islands. Conservatives, conspiracy theorists who have blamed the fires on “Chinese Space Lasers” or arsonists trying to clear the precious real estate, anti-Ukraine War people, etc., have tried to place the blame on President Joe Biden. However, it seems this fire situation was an accident (downed power lines per Brianna Sacks, 2023, of The Washington Post) exacerbated by environmental conditions.
I personally know people from Hawaii. I went to college with many and some of my best friends are from the various islands spanning Oahu and Maui. According to one friend, when consulting his father-in-law, the emergency system was simply old and outdated. According to another friend whose father was a federal firefighter on the US military bases in Hawaii, his father said that local firefighters only “contain” fires, whereas federal fighter fighters serving the US military bases are required to fully put out fires. Sometimes there’s coordination between the firefighters on federal facilities with those of civilian firefighters, but my friend did not know much more than that.
There are many rumors being circulated online, such as Biden only gave $700. These rumors often negate to go into detail about how programs, bills, funds, etc., all work, yet, instead they appeal to emotion and rage within our already divided country, with a good chunk still reeling that Donald Trump lost the 2020 election. Many of these Trump supporters, but not just them, believe in various conspiracies that been within the pop culture for years such as “FEMA Camps” which are code-word for concentration camps, the New World Order, Mark of the Beast which is code for implants, surveillance, etc.
For example, regarding the $700 payment, FEMA.gov (2023) addressed the rumor, titled, “Rumor: FEMA is only giving Hawaii wildfire survivors $700 per household.”, but responding with “This is not true. There is a range of federal disaster assistance available. Critical Needs Assistance provides a one-time payment of $700 to address immediate needs such as food, water, and clothing. This is just one of several types of federal assistance you may be eligible to receive. As applications are reviewed, you can check your application status online or call 800-621-3362 to find out what types of disaster assistance you are eligible to receive.”
Looking into the CNA Program, FEMA.gov (202) stated that, ““FEMA may provide financial assistance to applicants who have immediate or critical needs because they are displaced from their primary dwelling. Immediate or critical needs are life- saving and life-sustaining items including, but not limited to: water, food, first aid, prescriptions, infant formula, diapers, consumable medical supplies, durable medical equipment, personal hygiene items and fuel for transportation. Critical Needs Assistance (CNA) is awarded under the Other Needs Assistance (ONA) provision of the Individuals and Households Program (IHP).Funds awarded for CNA count toward an applicant’s financial ONA maximum for that disaster, which is an annually-adjusted amount based on the U.S. Department of Labor’s Consumer Price Index. CNA is a one-time $500 payment per household. An affected state, territorial, or tribal government must submit a written request to FEMA to implement CNA. FEMA’s Individual Assistance Division Director may authorize assistance when the majority of applicants from the declared area are, or will be, displaced from their primary residence for an extended period of time, generally 7 days or more.” (end quote)
Note, that this quote/reference is from 2020, so that $500 must have been bumped up to the $700.
Further according to FEMA.gov (2021), Other Needs Assistance (ONA) falls under FEMA’s Individuals and Households Program and provides financial help after a disaster to cover necessary expenses and serious needs not paid by insurance or other sources (FEMA, 2021). The first two categories of assistance – transportation and personal property – are dependent on residents applying for a low-interest disaster loan from the U.S. Small Business Administration beforehand. If applicants are denied a loan, or if the loan does not cover all their needs, they may receive a FEMA grant to replace or repair transportation and/or personal property (FEMA, 2021). Survivors do NOThave to apply for an SBA loan first to be considered for the following categories of assistance, which includes (A) moving and storage equipment, (B) Medical and Dental Assistance, (C) Funeral Assistance, and (D) some miscellaneous item (FEMA, 2021). If you have already applied with FEMA for Housing Assistance, you don’t need to apply separately for ONA (FEMA, 2021).
Regarding the Small Business Loan, states such as Washington State’s Emergency Management page under its Department of Military (i.e., the National Guard) stated that, “SBA disaster loans are available even without a Presidential Disaster Declaration and are a great tool to provide low-interest loans to individuals, families, businesses and organizations that suffer physical or economic loss due to a disaster or other disruption”
But what about this Other Needs Assistance (ONA) maximum which the $700 from the Critical Needs Assistance falls under?
First off, Other Needs Assistance programs are administered by the state and funded 75 percent by FEMA and 25 percent by the state (Washington State Military Department – Emergency Management Division). This 75 to 25 cost sharing between the federal government and states can be found on multiple state’s webpages, etc.
Secondly,
According to the Federal Register (2021), where the Federal Register could be understood as the Federal Government’s bulletin board it was stated that Section 408 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (the Stafford Act), 42 U.S.C. 5174, prescribes that FEMA must annually adjust the maximum amount for assistance provided under the Individuals and Households Program (IHP). FEMA gives notice that the maximum amount of IHP financial assistance provided to an individual or household under section 408 of the Stafford Act with respect to any single emergency or major disaster is $37,900 for housing assistance and $37,900 for other needs assistance. The increase in award amount is for any single emergency or major disaster declared on or after October 1, 2021. In addition, in accordance with 44 CFR 61.17(c), this increases the maximum amount of available coverage under any Group Flood Insurance Policy (GFIP) issued (Federal Register, 2021). [See: https://www.fema.gov/fact-sheet/group-flood-insurance-policy%5D
Further, Federal Register (2021) FEMA bases the adjustment on an increase in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers of 5.3 percent for the 12-month period, which ended in August 2021. The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor released the information on September 14, 2021.
To wrap our heads around this for the sake of clarity, $700 was given in immediate assistance under the CNA (Critical Need Assistance) Program which is based on an annually-adjusted amount based on the U.S. Department of Labor’s Consumer Price Index, but CNA falls under FEMA’s Other Needs Assistance (ONA) provision, which is a larger type of “expense account budget” where FEMA provides 75% of funding and the state provides the other 25% (as well as manages the program), which is for personal property, transportation, funeral expenses, etc., that is not necessarily for FEMA Housing Assistance (but can be applied for at the same time if applying for FEMA Housing Assistance). ONA however falls under the Individuals and Households Program (IHP) of FEMA. Per Section 408 of the Stafford Act, the ONA maximums are $37,900 for housing assistance and $37,900 for other needs assistance. So, $75,800 overall, but you get $700 up front.
The White House has begun the process of disaster relief, but it is important to remember that the Federal government must work with the State Government regarding disaster relief such as in relation to laws such as Posse Comitatus (federal troops can’t police states in theory), the Stafford Act, etc.
Regarding the conspiracy theory that the fires are due to “Chinese Space Lasers”, even though I have no way of verifying that, nor do I really want to encourage the conspiracy because of its jingoistic/xenophobic undertones, back in February 2023, mainstream outlets such as Newsweek, Popular Mechanics, etc., did address the space laser situation. So, I understand why people may believe this, even though I am not sure if it’s believable or not.
Brodsky (2023) stated that the Chinese pollution-monitoring satellite Daqi-1 probably produced the lights spotted over Hawaii on January 28, according to a NASA scientist.
In other words, a sort of optical illusion in the atmosphere.
Yet, back on track, according to CBS News (2023) by way of CNN, residents did receive some text messages about winds and fires, including a National Weather Service fire warning, but per some residents there was not a major alert akin to an Amber Alert and most importantly there were no sirens. Hawaii residents have long been accustomed to the monthly tests of the outdoor siren warning system (CBS News, 2023).
While Maui’s warning sirens were not activated, emergency communications with residents were largely limited to mobile phones and broadcasters at a time when most power and cell service was already cut (CBS News, 2023).
Most Americans can relate to the feeling. We often get Tornado, Flood, or other Emergency warnings, but often it is hard to gauge the severity of the matter.
Relating to Hawaii, the National Weather Service operates the National and Pacific Tsunami Warning Centers ensuring there is free and not-for-profit tracking of tsunamis which can be caused by earthquakes. The PTWC dates to 1946 when 165 U.S. citizens were killed by tsunamis in Alaska and Hawaii.
However, this Tsunami system seems different than the siren warning system involved in the Maui Fire Disaster.
After looking into the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency (n.d.), the actual siren system under question seems to be the Hawaiʻi All Hazard Statewide Outdoor Warning System managed by the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency (HI-EMA) which is the largest single integrated Outdoor Siren Warning System for Public Safety in the world.
This Warning System is one part of the larger Hawaiʻi Statewide Alert and Warning System (SAWS) which includes FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert & Warning System (IPAWS) which used both the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) to alert the public.
So, who made or worked on the All-Hazard Statewide Outdoor Warning System?
I searched terms such as “Contract”, “Award”, “Supplier”, and “OEM” (Official Equipment Manufacturer), in relation to the All-Hazard Statewide Outdoor Warning System, which we should shorten to AHSOWS, and found an official government website by the State of Hawaii that reveals procurement data of state awards to suppliers. This website is called HANDS, i.e., Hawaii Awards & Notices Data System.
I noticed a few contracts awarded to Federal Signal Corporation by the State of Hawaii for its Defense Department. The Federal Signal Corporation is based in Oakbrook, Illinois, founded in 1901, and specializes in emergency vehicle equipment, warning sirens and public safety systems. They are listed on Nasdaq under NYSE: FSS.
From June 2022 through November 2022, I noticed a few procurements (buys) relating to sirens such as 110w Solar Panels and affiliated equipment for the State’s Emergency Warning Siren System which was awarded to Federal Signal Corporation via a Sole Source procurement (i.e., they were the only supplier solicited, i.e., not procured via a competitive bid) issued under Purchase Order Number G22A0157 in a dollar amount of $60,974.27.
Federal Signal Corporation also received a sole soured award Purchase Order under PO # G2218071 in the amount of $58,366.47 for Satellite Activation and Services (Isat Data Pro System Service) for Emergency Siren Communications. According to the posting, “SAT Data Pro System Service ‐ satellite to provide communication with the State’s Emergency Warning Siren System. The SAT service is a backup communication to the Siren system should the Cellular network fail. Service period from July 01, 2022 – June 30, 2023 DAGS Job No 16‐14‐7242. Federal Signal Sole Source # 21‐001‐SK. Approved Dec 11, 2020. CHANGE ORDER 1 Approved”
Also, under PO G2218061, in amount of $ 40,722.50, via a sole source procurement, Federal Signal Corporation was awarded an annual renewal for their Commander One Subscription Services which per the posting states, “Annual Renewal of Commander 1 Subscription for service period: 7/1/22 to 6/30/23 Includes: 1. Mobile apps & Web access 2. 20 SEATS 3. 5 Organization 4. 512 devices supported, 5. 24/7 after hours suppor 6. SmartMsg updates and 5,000 text and email notifications/month Approved for Sole Source pursuant to HRS 26‐6, 103D‐306, HAR 3‐122‐143 on 12/11/2020 Ref No. 21‐001‐SK, Federal Signal Sole Source Contract DAGS Job # 16‐14‐7242, CHANGE ORDER 1 Approved 3/8/2022.”
Further, PO 22807001, Federal Signal Corporation was awarded a contract for emergency siren equipment due to environmental reasons and vandalism.
Using a different search term I discovered that Federal Signal Corporation was awarded a $9 Million dollar award by the State of Hawaii for the HI-EMA, under PO 16-14-7242, issued by Daniel Jandoc, which in an Indefinite Quantity type of contract. FSC was to furnish Outdoor Warning Sirens for Public Safety (Sirens). This PO had a Period of Performance of 1/1/2021 to 12/31/2022.
The Period of Performance was 7/1/2022 to 6/30/2023 for the Satellite Activation and Services Contract and 6/14/2023 – 6/30/2023 for the Annual Renewal of Commander 1 Service.
Is it possible that the Period of Performance for certain subscriptions expired and that the State of Hawaii was trying to re-issue a new award or exercise an option, but due to lapse in time from June 2023 to early August 2023, there were lags or drops in coverage between the satellites, cell phones, controllers, towers, etc.? It would be nice to know the actual business and contracting behind the emergency system, i.e., was there pre-planning or were procurement offices reactionary once they realized funding was about to dry up or a new contracting vehicle was lingering in some sort of approval phase.
In other words, Federal Signal Corporation as the prime contractor has a complex system in place to support Hawaii (a combination of Software as a Service -SaaS- mixed with Hardware that integrates with other equipment), but while they were waiting for the state to issue funding for a new award or exercise a contract option, that lap in coverage, possibly mixed with vandalism, weather, etc., disrupted parts of the overall Emergency System, and once the fires started, their high temperatures fried the actual hardware.
II. The Federal Response
According to the White House.gov (2023) in an official press release it was stated that Mr. Maona N. Ngwira of FEMA has been appointed to coordinate Federal recovery operations in the affected areas. Further, President Joe Biden, likely by evoking the Stafford Emergency Act, authorized federal funding available to affected individuals in Maui County including assistance on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide which includes grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster.
Per, the White House.gov (2023) article, residents and business owners who sustained losses in the designated areas can begin applying for assistance at www.DisasterAssistance.gov, by calling 800-621-FEMA (3362), or by using the FEMA App.
According to Claims Journal (2023), Two firms have released early estimates of losses and damage from the devastating wildfires across Hawaii’s Maui Island and the historic town of Lahaina. Catastrophe modeler Karen Clark & Company issued new estimates showing the insured property losses from the Lahaina Fire in Hawaii to be around $3.2 billion. AccuWeather on Monday increased its estimate of the total damage and economic loss to $14 to $16 billion (Claims Journal, 2023). That update followed AccuWeather’s preliminary estimate last week of total damage and economic loss of $8-10 billion, and the latest AccuWeather loss estimate would equate to about 15% of the state of Hawaii’s gross domestic product and would exceed the GDP of Maui (Claims Journal, 2023). The Lahaina fire burned approximately 2,170 acres and devastated the town of Lahaina on Maui, according to KCC (Claims Journal, 2023).
According to Jim Garamone (2023) of DOD News of the US Department of Defense, Combined Joint Task Force 50, under the command of Army Brig. Gen. Stephen F. Logan, has mustered almost 700 DOD personnel and 140 Coast Guardsmen that are part of the coordinated response to the Maui wildfires that killed more than 100 people and destroyed the city of Lahaina last week, according to Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder. This includes FEMA asking for space at the US Army’s Schofield Barracks for billeting (i.e., rooms for troops and personnel, etc.). The Joint Task Force includes the US Army, Air Force, Coast Guard, Marines, Homeland Security, FEMA, and the National Guard. The Task Force is flying two Boeing CH-47 Chinooks (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_CH-47_Chinook) with fire suppression buckets capable of 189,000 gallons of water, and the Navy also has two Sikorsky (a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin) SH-60 Seahawks and three Boeing CMV-22 Ospreys on standby to support incoming requests.
More specifically this CJTF 50 is comprised of 402nd Field Support Brigade (responsible for assisting in Quartermaster duties, Sustainment Support, etc. in the Pacific Region) under Colonel Courtney Sugai and Lt. Colonel Timothy Page. Also, there is the 249th Engineer Battalion which is a power generation battalion that answers to the US Amry Corps of Engineers and serves more in a Reservist Capacity. The 249th Engineer Battalion Company is comprised of four companies, but specifically Company A is based at Hawaii’s Schofield Barracks and answers to Lt. Colonel Langston J. Turner. Lastly, the US Air Force and Navy have also established Liaison Officers, i.e., Points of Contract, to help their respected branch coordinate in the CJTF effort. Further, there is the Third Marine Littoral (i.e., nearshore) Battalion under Colonel John G. Lehane of the US Marine Corps providing General Dynamics MQ-9 Reaper Drones for aerial surveillance, Boeing MV-22 Osprey, and a Lockheed Martin KC-130J Super Hercules.
III. We have money for Ukraine, Hawaii, the Border, Crime Prevention, etc.
Sofi Stadium cost $5.5 Billion.
Lionel Messi at FC Barcelona had a $675 Million contract….to himself… but Christiano Rinaldo at Al Nassr has a $536 Million contract.
So that’s $1.2 billion of pledged (not necessarily paid) money on just two athletes.
So, why not hate on sports and not a country trying to maintain independence from Russia, when Russia invaded Ukraine?
[See video, Shut up about NATO expansion]
[See Video: The Dumbest Arguments About Russia’s War on Ukraine]
Regarding the 2008/9 Bailouts of US Auto Industry with giants like Ford and GM, “In all, the federal government extended nearly $81 billion to bail out the auto industry in a rescue effort that began under Bush’s watch and ended in December 2014, well into Obama’s second term.” (Source: Andrew Glass, Politico, 12/19/2018, Bush Bailouts US Automakers, Dec. 19, 2008).
Further, the New York Post (2021) by way of the Associated Press, released an article, titled: Costs of the Afghanistan War, in lives and dollars, which referenced a meta-study by Harvard University’s Kennedy School and Brown University’s Costs of War project. These studies estimated the amount of direct Afghanistan and Iraq war costs that the United States has debt-financed as of 2020 was $2 trillion but with interest will be $6.5 trillion by 2050.
According to Jonathan Masters and Will Merrow (2023) of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), since the war began, the Biden administration and the U.S. Congress have directed more than $75 billion in assistance to Ukraine, which includes humanitarian, financial, and military support, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, a German research institute (end quote). Much of the aid has gone toward providing weapons systems, training, and intelligence that Ukrainian commanders need to defend against Russia, which has one of the world’s most powerful militaries (Master and Merrow, 2023). Yet, according to the US Embassy to Ukraine (2015) Vice President Joe Biden announced today in Kyiv, Ukraine, that, pending consultation with Congress, the White House plans to commit approximately $190 million in new assistance to support Ukraine’s ambitious reform agenda.
Note this was when Biden was Vice President, speaking for President Obama in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, so this was only a policy promise and pledge. Yet, Donald Trump got into office and then threatened to pull funding away that Congress was ready to approve if Ukraine didn’t give dirt on Joe Biden.
But, fast forward, according to Lawrence Richards (2022) of Fox News in an article, titled: US leads the rest of the world with $196 billion given to Ukraine amid war with Russia – Russia first invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, the article’s headline states that use has given $196 Billion, but in the article, it states “$200 billion in promised or sent aid”. Emphasis on promised or pledged, not actually spent, yet it looks like the US has spent over 200 billion.
Yet not all this money is “new money” being randomly created, but it was already spent on existing hardware or approved on existing budgets. Or it is pledged money that has not been approved yet.
Tom Norton (2023) of Newsweek, in his article, titled: Fact Check: Have U.S. Taxpayers Sent Over $200B to Ukraine? In the article Norton (2023) details how Republicans have repeatedly and misleadingly used the $200 Billion price tag. From Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, Monica Crowley who stated, “”$200 billion+ of your hard-earned money has been disappeared into the corrupt money-pit of Ukraine.”, Andy Briggs, Keri Lake, Steve Bannon, and Fox News have all chirped this dollar amount.
Norton (2023) summarized as of April 2023, that Congress has only approved $113 billion for spending in Ukraine. Researchers tracking spending suggest that only around $77 billion has gone directly to Ukraine, a combination of financial, military and other forms of aid.
So let’s summarized…Fox News or at least prominent conservatives have dubiously stated the US has already spent $200 Billion, yet, per Norton (2023) back in April 2023, the US had spent $77 Billion out of $113 billion approved by Congress. Yet, to update this figure, in July 2023, Masters and Merrow (2023) stated that the US has sent $76.8 Billion, so that matches what Norton (2023) was saying on money actually spent, not promised, not pledged, not talked about, etc.
I do not blame people for being angry about Hawaii vs Ukraine situation regarding the perception and reality of responses and funding, but…Ukraine is not affecting Hawaii, no more Social Security or Medicare are affecting Hawaii. We are talking about different pools of money, bills, authorizations, etc. We have checks and balances, appropriation, and financing rules, etc., so to change rules we need Congress to change such rules. I get it. Why can’t we just command things into existence, but the thing is that we in the United States have rules based on checks and balances and tight appropriation laws (color of money rules, Misappropriation rules, etc.)
A lot of the Ukraine Lend Lease Money is money already for paid for assets via the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA), the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), and Foreign Military Financing (FMF). According to the CRFB, i.e., the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (2023), using PDA, the President can send military hardware out of the U.S. military’s own stockpiles directly to Ukraine (CRFB, 2023). Through USAI, the federal government contracts with the private sector to provide training, supplies, and other operational needs to the Ukrainian military and other allies (CRDB, 2023). Also, per CRFB (2023), the federal government uses FMF to backfill the stockpiles of NATO allies that have sent their own military hardware directly to Ukraine.
So, when you see this or that billion that is being spent on Ukraine a lot is basically a receipt and public disclosure of something already paid for, not more “pork barrel waste” adding onto our debt. The government did not just “print” with the “Federal Reserve” the money, but the money was also on the books, appropriated, and in many cases already spent on hardware that were sitting in stockpiles. Think of it all as receipts against existing appropriated budgets.
But I get the confusion. Defense funds come from NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act) pot of money whereas FEMA funding under Homeland Security comes from the Homeland Security Bill (See HR 8257).
In other words, sending already paid for tanks wouldn’t help Hawaii in a freak act of God accident no one saw coming, so it’s a false equivalency to compare the two, though emotionally I get people’s frustrations. And Congress controls the “power of the purse”, so it is on them to attempt to reform laws, even the constitution, if need be, if they want to change how money is appropriated and spent.
Republicans in Congress, running for office, or anti Biden types talking about this are gaslighting. Congressional Republicans had no problem voting for the NDAA same as Democrats, so if people want more FEMA funding it’s on Congress to do the bills such as budget more for the Homeland Security Bill. The President only signs or vetoes the bills but has certain executive powers to tap into those already existing and approved pots of money, i.e., the PDA program.
According to John M. Donnelly of Rollcall.com (2022), “The Senate voted overwhelmingly Thursday to pass the final defense authorization bill for fiscal 2023, clearing the sweeping measure for President Joe Biden’s signature. If Biden signs the NDAA into law, as he is expected to do, it would be the 62nd straight fiscal year that the defense policy measure has been enacted. The Senate’s final NDAA passage vote was 83-11, and 60 votes were required. The House passed the bicameral compromise on Dec. 8. When Armed Services Chairman Jack Reed, D-R.I., noted that the bill is named after the committee’s top Republican, James M. Inhofe of Oklahoma, the chamber resounded with applause. Reed said that Inhofe’s leadership of the committee, both in the majority and minority, had been “monumental.” Inhofe is retiring at the end of this year. With enactment of the bill, Washington will have authorized spending about $858 billion on defense programs in this fiscal year, mostly at the Pentagon. That is $45 billion, or 5 percent, more than Biden asked for in March.” (end quote).
Think about that. (A) Both parties voted for the NDAA (because it’s political suicide to not), (B) Congress added more money than what Biden had even asked for, meaning that Congress could have potentially shifted $45 Billion to the Homeland Security Bill or had planned on doing that, which theoretically could have pushed the Homeland Security Bill from $80 Billion to $125 Billion, (C) the bill was named for a Republican.
If you are angry at what is happening in Ukraine, then take it up with your legislators.
According to the Appropriations page owned by the US Senate’s website, The Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23) Department of Homeland Security Appropriations bill includes a total of $82.068 billion, including $60.7 billion in net discretionary appropriations.
The below picture is from the US Congress.gov
According to the US Senate Armed Services Committee (2023) 857.9 billion was appropriated for the National Defense Authorization Act of 2023. Out of this 857.9 billion most of the funds goes to the Department of Defense whereas some funding also goes to the Department of Energy considering the DOE overseas nuclear power, certain infrastructure such as electricity attached to our dams (whose construction is monitored by the US Army Corps of Engineers), etc. The bill does allow for up to 6 billion for General Transfer Authority for unforeseen high priority needs via “Reprogramming”. On an interesting note, this FY23 NDAA also authorizes funding to support a 4.6 percent pay raise for both military service-members and the DOD civilian workforce.
So, the NDAA got 857.9 billion, whereas the FY23 Homeland Security Funding Bill of $82.068 billion. So, the NDAA has over 10 times more funding. Yet, whose fault is this? It starts with Congress.
So, can we fund Ukraine to defend itself while protecting the border, funding cops and drug rehabs, investing in public housing and schools, etc? Yes.
The US has money to fund Ukraine and take care of most of its issues at home because our allies are gonna vouch for our debt anyways and buy our US treasuries, because that’s the brilliance of the scheme.
The EU, UK, Japan, Australia, Brazil, Canada, etc., will vouch for our debt and even if the US dollar weakens, a weak US dollar can boost US exports since foreign currencies rise, i.e., they have more purchasing power.
They’ll vouch for our debt because they already have so many US investments that dumping our debt would crash them too and cause a Global Depression. I do not think most of the world wants the Chinese Yuan or Russian Ruble as their reserve currency. And, sorry to the Crypto currency bros, but there’s only so many bitcoins that will ever be made.
The US despite its flaws has a good relationship with most powerful albeit non-Super Power nations. Yet, people have a very conservative framing of how sovereign debt and taxes work as if national financing is the same as personal financing in your personal life, when they’re not the same. Also people forget there were tax cuts on the highest income earners/corporations starting with Bush, the Obama Era Bush tax cut extension, and the Trump cut.
According to the Emily Horton (2017) of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, “In 2013 CBPP estimated that, when the associated interest costs are taken into account, the Bush tax cuts (including those that policymakers made permanent) would add $5.6 trillion to deficits from 2001 to 2018. This means that the Bush tax cuts will be responsible for roughly one-third of the federal debt owed by 2018.”
In theory if Bush didn’t do these cuts and if Americans accepted increases as opposed to reductions in taxes that $6.5 Trillion bill by 2050 with interests included according to Harvard and Brown University’s would have been hedged significantly by the $5.6 Trillion is projected loses in revenue.
So it’s not a matter of not having money for home improvement and Ukraine, when (A) our allies don’t care if we create money because we have the most lethal military as far as weapons that we use to protect them so they do not have to fight, i.e., the US economy is a Spartan mercenary operation at industrial scale, (B) the US has the safest banking system to store the world’s money and if they don’t store it here, they often store it in US dollars, and, (C) we can always reverse the 20 years of tax cuts because the rich are likely investing in this war anyways.
It’s a gaslight to make it seem as if we can’t afford both. Further even if we weren’t funding Ukraine to keep Russia away, our conservative minded, pro business politicians wouldn’t fund the things we want anyways like housing, etc. When has the government ever really invested in people? Bill Maher freaked out when people got COVID relief money.
So pretending like cheapskate frugal Republicans and phony progressive corporate Democrats will make us into a utopia is laughable.
Most people who are against the war are (A) Trump supporters just being Trump supporters, despite, ironically their blood-lust for war with “Communist” China, (B) hippies who have no realpolitik or concept of defense policy who believe peace exist in nature rather than something maintained by projecting force, (C) fake hippies who are actually conservatives who simply want the current Biden Administration to fail but not appearing to be conservative adjacent, e.g. The Hill owned by Nexstar Media, (D) Russian, Chinese, etc., psy-ops that want Russia to win even if they get concessions.
Brown University (2023) Cost of War by the Watson Institute – International and Public Affairs. Source: https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/figures (Date Retrieved. 17 August 2023).
Federal Emergency Management Agency (18 August 2023) Hawaii (DR-4724-HI): Rumor Response and Frequently Asked Questions. Source: https://www.fema.gov/disaster/4724/rumor-response (Date Retrieved 27 August 2023).
John M. Donnelly (15 December 2022) Senate sends fiscal 2023 NDAA to Biden’s desk – With enactment, Washington will have authorized about $858 billion on defense programs in this fiscal year. Source: https://rollcall.com/2022/12/15/senate-sends-fiscal-2023-ndaa-to-bidens-desk/ (Date Retrieved 27 August 2023).
Republicans on their constant quest for Culture War, as a means of brainwashing the public to hate progress as the rich get richer, our environment goes down the dumps, and capitalism is running out of things to exploit as we all live part time in toxic digital spaces, etc., are now saying that the military does not need diversity, or more specifically “diversity quotas” or “affirmative action”, and that the military should only be about meritocracy.
These Congressional discussions are in the wake of the Supreme Court banning affirmative action at certain private colleges, which has led many to think this will create precedent throughout the entire college admissions process across the county.
Still hot on their victory, Republicans seem to be operating under the mindset of “we have an inch, so we are going to take a mile” mentality. This means that they are taking any concept of diversity to bat, even if diversity is a force multiplier when it comes to national defense. By force multiplier, I mean something that gives the US military a strategic advantage and create synergies, e.g., (for example), the ability to have people from various backgrounds, the ability to have people who speak various languages which are vital for translating, the fact that foreign nations might relate more to people that look like them as opposed to seeing a bunch of white males who may be seen as colonizers or invaders, etc.
Also, Republicans like many conservatives assume that diversity is forced, i.e., that traditional minority groups are only in college, business, or the military because of crutches at the expense of white people, when many people of minority groups are in positions of power because of meritocracy, i.e., their hard work, personality, timing, how they “played the game”, etc., and not because of their identity.
Republicans have this agenda of stewing white rage, despite white people still being the majority, and many immigrant groups that are non-Anglo-Saxon, i.e., Germanic and/or Celtic groups (i.e., Northern and Central Europeans), such as Latinos still identifying as white in many cases, since Hispanic/Latino are ethnicities and not races (though we in the USA often see Latino as a different race since it’s based on a “different programming”, i.e., it is more Catholic and Spanish, rather than Germanic based and Protestant, but also Many Hispanic Latinos in the US are Mestizo, notably of Chicano heritage meaning they have partial indigenous American roots).
The interesting thing is that the military is not as meritocratic as civilians might think or how conservative veterans may explain things on “the inside” as they flaunt their military service to silence those who didn’t serve.
For example, officers don’t test for their rank as compared to enlisted personnel who must test for their rank. So how is this meritocratic?
First off, because of the Mike Rowe Dirty Work sentiment more prevalent in conservative politics that stresses that college is overrated as compared to blue-collar (working with your hands) skilled work, and adding on the fact that conservatives such as Tucker Carlson have called colleges something akin to “Communist indoctrination centers”, I find it interesting that in order to be an officer one must have a college degree (so I guess they fail the “anti-woke” tests”?).
Secondly, that those who gain a commission as an officer in the United States military don’t have to have test for rank or promotion.
So, while conservatives attempt to gas-light the public into believing that our ever-growing progressive society is “anti-white”, especially anti-white straight Christian male, they fail to mention that officers, yes – our higher paid, college educated, quasi-fraternity like leaders – don’t have to test for rank.
Promotions are almost guaranteed until you get to certain levels, i.e., a junior enlisted officer may have different expectations as opposed to field grade (or, mid-grade) officers, general level officers, etc.
Yes, officers like enlisted must study for their career development (such as they will go to Technical Training or TDY, i.e., Tour of Duty, for advanced learning), yet when it comes to enlisted forces, they must pass courses to get pass junior enlisted to the non-commissioned officer ranks (sergeants and above depending on branch).
For example, when I was in the military, I did trainings or course work as far as my job (sometimes among officers) as means of getting certified from an apprentice to a journeyman, but when it came to promotion from E4 (Senior Airman) to E5 (Staff Sergeant) I had to test and pass (a two part exam on my job skills and another on general military history/etiquette, etc.), whereas officers simply gained rank on time, board reviews, and behavior without testing. Does that make sense?
Simply put, to do your job you need to have training, but to promote, testing on your job is required for enlisted but not for officers, even though if an officer does poorly in job course work this may be counted against them on their Officer Performance Report (OPR) but it may not hinder them from achieving rank, yet it depends on what higher ups determine. “Testing” only really becomes important once officers start needing War College level training where they learn how to command in foreign theaters, command multiple forces where some may be foreign militaries, etc., but these may not happen until you hit Major or Lt. Colonel (or, equivalent type ranks).
So, is it really meritocracy in the officer ranks? You can make it to Captain or Major and not be that bright of a person or not be battle tested, yet you made those ranks on time rather than necessary proven tested aptitude.
Separately, in the Air Force at least, a person’s Physical Testing scores aren’t factored in to rank promotions, and adding insult to injury, passing requirements for rank promotions vary form year to year, meaning some years you may need an 85% to pass, whereas others you may need a 95% to pass.
So, there’s no clear way of comparing troops, especially between officers and enlisted, let alone between enlisted and enlisted. For example, I had leaders who tested lower than what I scored on my promotion exams, and were way more out of shape (barely pass their PT tests), etc. In theory, there’s people who partied through college, did ROTC, and now are making 2.5x or more than enlisted personnel.
Ironically, and adding more insult to injury, officer promotions such as in the US Air Force as based more on achieving goals, community service, leadership activities, etc. It’s more like a corporate annual review you might see with your boss in corporate America, after you have a few quarterly or a mid-year check in.
Officers are evaluated more on a “good ole boy” and “peer review” system, meaning that at higher levels that there might be favoritism when getting selected since you essentially interview before a board. Boards occur in enlisted ranks but often only senior enlisted ranks, yet, still enlisted personnel must test for rank.
Without saying it, you may be discriminated against such as whether you were an “Academy cadet” as opposed to an ROTC, Enlisted-to-Officer, or general commissioned officer (i.e., a person off the street with a degree who gets a commission after doing Officer Candidate School or Office Training Schools depending on branch).
So why is it like this?
The simplest answer in my opinion is that enlisted do the actual work, whereas officers are in leadership roles, so it’s not so much about knowing your job but rather ensuring your workers are doing their job. The concept of officer’s dates to medieval times when feudalism existed.
If you want a true meritocracy you would abolish the two-tier enlisted and officer system and have promotions be based on education, testing, PT scores, interviews, communication skills, etc.
Motto: Death from Below, Keeps Safety from Above? Mors ab Inferis. Salues Desuper. Or… Bravery for a Free Space? Fortitudo Ad Liberum Spatium. Or… Death and Bravery for a Free Space? Mors et fortitudo, pro spatio libero. (Note, I used Google Translate, so this may not be proper Latin)
Beret: Carolina Blue
New Space Force uniform.
Photo credit: A U.S. Soldier participates in a night raid training mission during Emerald Warrior 2012, an exercise put together by U.S. Special Operations Command. Photo: USAFA U.S. soldier participates in a night-raid training mission during Emerald Warrior 2012, an exercise put together by U.S. Special Operations Command. Photo: USAF
This is just a fun post. I’m in no way Rambo, Soldier of Fortune, etc.
But, if the US Space Force had special forces, I would assume it would fall under a newly created US Space Force Special Operations Command (USSF-SOC) that falls under the Unified Combatant Command, with the new command either based out of the Colorado Springs area (able to cross train with local USAF, US Army and US Space Force facilities); Huntsville, AL area, or potentially somewhere in Florida such as Hulbert Field next to existing USAF Special Ops, or Patrick Air Force Base/Cape Canaveral Space Station or MacDill AFB.
But what would they do?
USSFSOC would be the shock force that protects terrestrial satellite stations for sustainment of the Defense Satellite Communication System (DSCS), performs Counter terrorism/CBRNE counter measures, retakes US or allied terrestrial satellite stations, while also incapacitating and taking over enemy ones with hand-to-hand combat, small arms, assault rifles, ordnance, calling in close air support strikes, etc.
A USSFSOC personnel would be like the Air Force Tactical Control Party (TAC-P) mixed with USAF Combat Control (Air Commando) , but this would be a Space Combat Control Party, i.e., Space CCP, i.e., Space Commando.
Similar to how CCTs are FAA certified Air Traffic Controllers, a Space CCP would be a NASA certified Flight Controller taught at the Christopher C. Kraft Jr., Mission Control Center Houston (MCC-H)
They go behind enemy lines, take out or take over enemy communication stations, extract USSF or allied personnel, repair satellites, conduct Flight Controller duties.
Teams would be led by an officer in person or remotely who has an Electrical Engineering background but supported by a cadre of enlisted personnel who are capable of hacking into or retrieving elements of an enemy’s servers located at satellite stations, or setting up /repairing remote satellite stations, etc.
Enlisted members will be designated as warrant officers so they can operate above enlisted but be subordinate to officers.
This will give the US and allies vital intelligence but also the ability to disrupt enemy satellite operations in space thus throwing off an enemy’s GPS targeting systems, etc. Also, USSF-SOC operators can establish/repair remote satellite stations.
Training would essentially be “capture the flag”, i.e., taking over enemy facilities and defending allied facilities.
HALO/HAHO (High Altitude, Low Opening/High Opening) parachuting. Using littoral waterway entrance methods (infiltration via beaches by sea or river) to enter into enemy territory. Using SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape) tactics to successful bypass/neutralize enemy combatants. Surveil enemies using SALUTE reporting (Size, Activity, Location, Unit, Time, and Equipment). Direct close air support via Joint Terminal Attack Controller methodology to destroy enemy satellite stations. Defend and evacuate US Space Force or other DOD or Allied personnel at satellite stations in combat zones. Establish/repair remote satellite outposts. Physically take over enemy satellite stations either for destruction or for cooption.
Training may consist of (1) selection, (2) SERE school at Fairchild AFB, WA; (3) Ranger School; (4) US Army Airborne School (Parachute Badge) at Fort Benning, GA for Static Line qualification & Army Military Free Fall Parachutist School, Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona for HALO qualification; (5) Cold Weather orientation and Basic Military Mountaineering Course at the Northern Warfare Training Center at Ft. Wainwright Alaska, (6) Combat Diver/ Underwater Egress School at NAS Pensacola, FL, (7) Jungle Warfare at US Jungle Operations Training Center at Schofield Barracks, (8) Desert Warrior Course at Ft Bliss, also advanced training notably with satellite systems at the Jet Propulsion Lab Space Flight Operator Facility, .
Pararescuemen from the 38th Rescue Squadron and the 58th Rescue Squadron, Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., jump from a HC-130P/N for a High Altitude Low Opening free fall drop from 12,999 feet in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. PJs use a variety of jumps depending on the mission. / USAF Photograph by Staff Sgt. Jeremy T. Lock.
In this March 1, 2017, photo, soldiers from the U.S. Army’s 25th Infantry Division 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team participate in jungle warfare training at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. The Army has set up a jungle training course amid a renewed focus on Asia and the Pacific after more than a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Daniel Lin)
In the future a person who qualifies for USSF SOC Space CCP could qualify for a NASA mission, meaning they’d be the first US Space Force Commando in space.
Today, as of 14 March 2023, President Biden suggested his upcoming military budget of $886 Billion dollars. As a veteran (no Rambo) who served myself, an Army brat (ex-military dependent), and having worked for a contractor I can assure you that nothing makes sense, while simultaneously making total sense at the same time regarding the budget.
At this point, the US spends so much on the military not because the military is “pound per pound” more efficient as compared to other combatant nations (I only shot a gun once in basic training and not while on active duty), but rather it is mostly a vestige of the World War II Military Complex that was established under FDR, with roots dating back as early as the Lincoln and Grant Administrations during and after the Civil War.
It is basically a Keynesian “demand side economics” jobs program paid for with a mix of taxes, but mostly debt, where the United States cannot escape the addiction because to escape the addiction means to end the Empire, because a contraction is more of a sign to other nations that the US is “cutting back”.
For example, have you ever been to Lima, Ohio? No? I haven’t. Exactly. But, guess what, the Lima Army Tank Plant is there.
The military complex is everywhere.
It’s not simply Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, General Dynamics, Boeing, Saab, Leonardo Spa, Textron, etc., but a web of medium size or small vendors ranging from software as a service (SaaS) vendors, sample testing services, clothing, janitorial services, food vendors, laundry services, mail services, cafeteria vendors (US Foods, Sodexho, etc.), universities who perform testing services, and even entertainment via MWR (Morale, Welfare, and Readiness) which is were Hollywood, beer companies, etc., help the troops ease off stress at Enlisted or Officer clubs . Coca-Cola is a military contractor for Christ sake.
That seemingly boring office park you see might be full of contractors doing everything for sensitive document disposal, to architectural designs, to urinalysis testing, etc.
Many vendors are not full time contractors, whereas others may get multi-year contracts which still may not amount to much money. In other words, a business may get a contract, and never do business again until sought after further.
It’s everywhere.
In other words, we can’t stop upping the annual military budget because so much of our domestic economy is dependent upon it, as well as our international foreign policy which entails selling our technical expertise to our allies, who in return give us access to their airspace, land, and ports, but also purchases (props up) our debts by buying Treasuries, not debating the petrodollar scheme, etc. Yet, there is always a way to save money such as fostering competitive bids, hard-line negotiations, etc.
We are stuck as the “world’s mercenaries” who provide the best “science fair” products, i.e., weapon systems, and by doing so we effectively have a ‘socialist “3rd Way” type of economy that props up corporate or private businesses.
I. (b). America’s faltering foreign policy
The interesting thing is that the United States is giving up these weapon systems to nations who are playing their own “Games of Thrones” such as Saudi Arabia, i.e., the home of the 9/11 hijackers or Israel, where Israel I would argue has captured US foreign policy, such as preventing the United States from engaging in direct diplomacy with Iran, which would theoretically cut China off from Europe since Iran is a land-bridge connecting China via Pakistan, especially now that the United States is not in Afghanistan.
Yet, by leaving Afghanistan per the theory of Zbigniew Brzezinski in The Grand Chessboard the United States is essentially a sideline player, because per the theory of Brzezinski, whomever controls the Central Asian Steppes effectively cuts the world in half, thus “ruling the world”, i.e., the pivot point or bulkhead between West and East.
It is my opinion that Afghanistan was never meant to be won, but rather was a “crashing the party” situation where the USA could be smack in the middle of Russia, China, Iran, Pakistan, etc. The Afghanistan War also was a job’s creation program and corporate stimulus effort during recession that lasted arguably from 2008 up to 2014ish. The contractors that are publicly traded made their profits, and Americans lucky enough to be in an industry that rubbed off on defense were able to maintain employment.
Yet, back to our currently situation relating to nations such as Saudi Arabia, Israel, etc., is the irony of Israel having its own ties with China, so even if the USA is bumped out of “important conversations” (as seen by a growing number of UN votes in China’s favor), the Israelis still can jump to their new “boyfriend” with the Chinese and Russians, etc. China will therefore simply replace the USA as the arbiter of peace negotiations with them financing the Muslim world but the Israelis wanting the lucrative Chinese market to sell their expertise to (ironically, partially funded by US joint ventures in the Silicon Wadi for example) will have no problem rebounding from a more distant American relationship. But, this is all theoretical.
Disclaimer: My opinions on Israel are not meant to be misconstrued as antisemitic because I want Israel to exist, but Netanyahu has been a bane to America’s existence. The Jews deserve to be back in the Holy Land, even though we can of course disagree on the current state of Israeli and Palestinian relations.
Regardless, the United States toppled Saddam in Iraq, Gaddafi in Libya, nearly took out Assad in Syria, and even disabled Iran’s alleged nuclear program with the Stuxtnet Program (where General James Cartwright was mysteriously given the “David Petraeus” Treatment, i.e., accused of sexual misconduct as a means of getting rid of him), but it is still not enough for Israel. At this point, why doesn’t the US have a military base in Israel if we are so needed to kill off Israel’s enemies?
I. (c). Corruption Examples
Yet, it is easy to say the federal government is corrupt regarding contracting such as with the Military Industrial Complex (trust me, I get the frustration). First, let’s define contracting as the process of dealing with contractors/vendors/merchants, i.e., the process of conducting acquisitions, buying, purchasing, etc. But getting “no bid contracts” without following any rules is possible but harder than expected, luckily thanks to whistleblower protection laws. Basically, if you are stupid enough to defraud at the federal level you deserve what comes to you because it is scary to do contracting for the Federal government.
The stereotype of corrupt politicians meeting at fancy DC steakhouses where you can get cigars and high paid escorts. But, does this happen?
I don’t know; however, I would argue that corrupt contracting/procurement/acquisition/buying practices happens the most at lower levels of government, e.g., cousin Jedediah with the city purchasing card giving an award for parks and recreation clean up to his niece’s fiancé, or the Brett Farve situation in Mississippi where he was tapping into welfare funds.
It is much easier to get away with corrupt contracting practices at local municipal and city government levels because of lack of centralized oversight, which is the same reason America’s policing policies have so many issues, i.e., there’s a separation of federal and state, so local governments are largely shielded from oversight unless they break federal law, i.e., mail or wire fraud, tax evasion, violations of intersection commerce, etc.
However, the federal government has arrested many Contracting Officers for abusing their powers such as the process of getting Kickbacks. I would say that corruption at the federal level happens outside the actual procurement process most of the time but rather during the vendor selection process, particularly on major weapon system programs, i.e., your major international tradeshow and airshow levels.
I. (d). America’s Military Recruitment Problem
America is allegedly undergoing a military requirement problem and I call it baloney. I don’t believe it.
The Pentagon which essentially is a hive mind that calculates manpower and strategy, created this supposed problem by doing aggressive “force reductions” even before our withdrawal from Afghanistan.
When I served, they let people leave the military before their Military Service Obligations (MSO). The US military thinks an updated version of “Be All you Can be” from our Cold War childhoods will somehow solve this “problem”. A method of fixing this is letting prior service members join, as well as expand the Reserves and National Guard. It wouldn’t be that hard to dig up troops dusty personnel files and allow them to rejoin, such as potentially having a shorter military re-introduction course, honoring time served when recalculating a MSO, etc.
The military has bad recruitment practices. Why are we still asking recruits or pre-service re-entries about marijuana usage when most US states now have it legal, as well our Canadian allies to the north (including for active duty)?
The military literally still asks about something we all know most people do, but if you lie, you’re breaking the law, but if you tell the truth, you need waivers which go on your record. It’s foolish.
The military is still asking about marijuana use, yet there is no way of screening for sexual predators based on a questionnaire, which is way worst, e.g., remember the Venessa Guillen case, which is just one case of violence against women that got major media coverage [See: Murder of Vanessa Guillén – Wikipedia].
Further, most jobs in the military I would argue don’t feel like “warriors”, but rather paper pushers or administrators dealing with NCOs and officers who have a culture of “let the sh-t roll downhill”.
I shot a gun once in 4 years, but ironically the military budget is going up. It makes no sense. How are we going to call Airmen, “Airmen”, for example, when most never even ride on a military aircraft (think a C-130 Hercules) such as for trainings to simulate deployments?
The Taliban and Vietcong did warfare without nearly as much spending as the Americans, and still gave us hell.
Instead of saying we’re at a lack of manpower, we need to empower those already in, those in the reserves/National Guard, and even Inactive Ready Reservists to feel like…warriors. I would argue that small NATO nations have more lethal troops as a percentage than the US military does. US Special Forces is a very small community and aviator jobs flying expensive aircraft are reserved for the officer class, with some exceptions for Warrant Officers and enlisted positions. The United States Air Force doesn’t even have a Warrant Officer tier meaning that skilled NCOs are eventually relegated to administrative jobs as opposed to servicing as seasoned experts in tactical operations vs organizational management.
The sad truth in my opinion is that people don’t do twenty years because of “patriotism” but because the military provides benefits. There are people getting pensions for 20 years who never saw combat, versus people who saw combat but got out, and their VA compensation may not be as lucrative.
It’s just simply easier to do offer bonuses rather than to do structural reform in the US military.
II. How does fraud happen, without it really “happening”?
But they get away with corruption during the actual procurement via the “evaluation process”, where you can’t buy quality always at the “Lowest Price, Technically Acceptable”, i.e., the lowest price as determined by a competitive acquisition where multiple vendors compete in a “sealed bid” type of process, and where the winning bid meets the criteria of a Statement of Work (SOW) or Statement of Objectives (SOO).
For example, according in FAR Part 15.3: The quality of the product or service shall be addressed in every source selection through consideration of one or more non-cost evaluation factors such as past performance, compliance with solicitation requirements, technical excellence, management capability, personnel qualifications, and prior experience ( 10 U.S.C. 3206(c)(1)(A) and 41 U.S.C. 3306(c)(1)(A));
In other words, they know that the big players will always win on large acquisitions. So, they are playing by the rules, but the rules of the game are rigged for the big guys, since they are often evaluated on criteria outside of price via Best ValueSource Selection evaluation criteria such as Past Performance (they’ve done it before), Technical Expertise, the best and most advantageous Warranty, Financial health, etc.
Yet, the government does require that contracts comply with Small Business Administration requirements thus ensuring that the “little guy” is looked out for, yet, on certain important requirements, these smaller firms that may be more obedient to regulators since they are happy to have the opportunity but simply can’t compete.
Corruption also comes from supplier’s trying to hide cost data that is required by the Truth in Negotiations Act.
I would not say that federal government is corrupt per se, but rather it’s the equivalent of a Cohen Brother’s movie, i.e., a sort of Burn After Reading, Lost in Translation, Kafka-esque process, where the sheer size of the federal government with its various branches, departments, agencies, federal corporations, etc., are all speaking the same language but via different dialects.
Sometimes you get corruption, sure, but mostly higher costs come from sloppy contracting or exhaustion from burdensome processes or cultures of fear within organizations where people are “afraid to raise their hands” for fear of being perceived an “inept” or making a small fire into a large fire.
Also, the FAR mandates in government agencies use Mandatory Sources of Supply before even sourcing suppliers on the market. FAR Part 8 has a list of sources you are suppose to contact first. (1) Agency inventories, i.e., excess, (2) Excess from other agencies, (3) Federal Prison Industries, now known as Unicor (https://www.unicor.gov/), (https://www.unicor.gov/BusinessCatalogs.aspx) (4) Supplies which are on the Procurement List maintained by the Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled, i.e., AbilityOne (https://www.abilityone.gov/procurement_list/), (5) Wholesale supply sources, such as stock programs of the General Services Administration (GSA), Defense Logistics Agency, or the Veterans Administration, (6) Services from Ability One.
Also, per FAR 8, “The statutory obligation for Government agencies to satisfy their requirements for supplies or services available from the Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled also applies when contractors purchase the supplies or services for Government use.”
So in other words before you jump into the marketplace, you need to source from government agencies but how much this is done is debatable.
Buying in the federal government is boring and burdensome, but this is a good thing because the slower you go the more likely you are to find errors or to have better bargaining power against suppliers who may want quick awards.
Yet, buyers aren’t truly “empowered”.
For example, let’s say you have a competition for a fleet of Jeeps for the Secret Service. You compete against five (5) dealerships, where some are registered small businesses, meaning you are sharing the love. You provide a Statement of Work with all the specifications you require, and you have also received questions from various dealerships. You then share these clarifications with all parties so no one has an advantage over the other. You eventually get the quotes back, you share them with the end users who sign off whether they meet the specifications or not, you disqualify some, but you land at the LPTA.
The thing is after you come to the LPTA, sure, you can still negotiate and ask for discounts, but you can’t make the suppliers fight against each other. For example, you go back to the second lowest LPTA and say, “Can you beat $x price”. The second may come back and say sure I can do that or, I can’t meet the price point, but I can give you a two-year warranty as opposed to a 6-month warranty as defined by your specification, and this is better than anything we give to civilian customers (you verify this is true).
Or, let’s say the second LPTA comes back with a lower price. You can’t then say to both remaining competent vendors, “This is the last round. Can you beat $x price”, i.e., assuming $x price is the second LPTA. In theory both might go lower, or one might say, “Hey I can’t meet that price”, but at least the buyer would know that he left it all on the field for the benefit of the taxpayer.
You essentially can’t “haggle” like you can in the real world.
IV. Basics I.
The basis of federal contracting is the Federal Acquisition Regulation, but the certain agencies have their own specific supplements to the FAR, for example, you have the FAR, the DFARs (Defense Acquisition Regulation), the AFFARs (the Air Force Acquisition Regulations), NFS (NASA FAR Supplement: https://www.acquisition.gov/nfs), etc.
Further, if the government is awarding a federally funded taxpayer contract to contractor, the government will require these businesses include “flow-downs”, i.e., certain selected FAR based clauses to be applied into their contracts, which are uniquely selected by the Contracting Officer.
These clauses are found in FAR Chapter 52.
For example, 52.204-25 Prohibition on Contracting for Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment which prohibits certain products not be bought from China such as Huawei Technologies Company or ZTE Corporation (or any subsidiary or affiliate of such entities)
Or, 52.203-15 Whistleblower Protections Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
The Contracting Officer (CO) may be one of the most powerful positions you have never heard of, but there’s offices full of them throughout the various agencies and departments. From NASA to the Department of Education, FEMA, the Treasury Department, etc., you have COs.
A CO will likely run their own contract, but in more complex acquisitions you may have a PCO, ACO, or TCO, i.e., a Procurement Contracting Officer, Administrating Contracting Officer, and Termination Contracting Officer.
A CO is granted their authority through delegation of the Executive, i.e., the President, like how a military officer is granted their commission by the President. Of course, you never meet the president, but the theory is that all government workers are effectively extensions of the Executive who delegates explicit and implied authority to his workers in the various administrative agencies.
V. Basics II.
Prospective COs on behalf whichever Department they will be working for will takes courses as assigned by an Acquisition Career Manager (like a counselor) from accredited federal bodies such as the Federal Acquisitions Institute (FAI) which is for all federal agencies (except the DOD), which therefore technically falls under the General Services Administration (GSA), or the DAU (Defense Acquisition University) for DOD members, where the DAU trains COs to be in alignment with agencies such as the DCMA (Defense Contract Management Agency) and DCAA (Defense Contracting Auditing Agency). [See: FAI Home | FAI.GOV; DAU Home]
After training, career development courses (CDCs), etc., a person will get their certification such as the FAC-C (Federal Acquisition Certification in Contracting) Level I-III series from the FAI or an APDP (Acquisition Professional Development Program) Level I-III from the DAU.
Once a person becomes a CO, they will be awarded a Warrant, i.e., a Delegation of Authority, which states up to what level of money they are authorized to spend by themselves. Newer buyers of course start low while more seasoned buyers may have multi-million dollar or unlimited warrants. For example, in active-duty military a Contracting Squadron commander might have a very high dollar warrant even though they don’t deal with contracting directly, but rather high-level government-civilian workers or enlisted personnel (the technical experts) do the actual contracting process. Essentially, the commander might serve as the final stamp and oversight, but not really involved in all the details, even though they are being briefed on “hot requirements” which have higher level visibility.
So, when a buyer is buying something they to think about the Bona Fid Needs Rule which means that a federal procurement must be for an actual and immediate/foreseeable need, i.e., you can’t spend money necessarily on things because you feel a need, but rather there has to be an actual need; the Misappropriation Act (31 USC, Section 1301) which requires that buyers use the correct “Color of Money” when buying something. Finance Departments help with this by coding “Lines of Accounting” with the proper pool of funds (MILCON, i.e., military construction, O&M – Operations & Maintenance, NAF – Non-appropriated Funds), fiscal year, location, etc. (SEE: https://acqnotes.com/acqnote/acquisitions/color-of-money); the Anti-deficiency Act of 1982 which is asking “Do you actually have money”, and you can’t spend more than you are given.
Funding is also dependent upon the Federal government’s fiscal calendar which ends every 30th of September and begins every 1st of October.
In theory, how it works, (I am assuming here) that by 15th April is when taxes are due, but between then and Oct 1st, I would assume that the Treasury sees how much “liquid cash” it can collect and how much debt it needs to underwrites, and for the debt it underwrites (Treasuries) then get sold at “auctions” with most purchased by the central bank to “insure” the “printing” of new money if necessary, then from there we have a fresh sources of cash comprised of a bundle of tax money and money printed (new debt), to be spent, i.e., recycled within the system – thus giving that currency “life” – to keep the next year going. This is why you hear drama around the “deb ceiling” every years, because the US runs on a deficit, meaning Congress has to authorize that recurring and revolving balance. When Treasuries mature, the Treasury then pays the Federal Reserve which helps the Fed Reserve clear the bonds off its balance sheet, but often the Fed Reserve has already sold (traded) some of them for profit elsewhere, i.e., such as to other central banks, mutual funds, etc.
The government is very strict about not crossing fiscal years because after each year expires, the appropriate funds are returned to Congress. Three questions of do you have funds?, and are you using the right bucket of money?, and is the need immediate? For multi-year contracts that span multiple fiscal years, contracts are designed to have “options” (think of it like a sports contract), e.g., Base Plus Three means you have a base year with three potential option years (where proposals are evaluated en masse prior to award), where Procurement Offices will either exercise or not exercise an upcoming year by notifying a supplier within an agreed upon time-frame. Once October 1st comes, the Contracting Officer will issue a modification to add the new years money, etc.
VIII. Basics V.
Once the buyer establishes these criteria, then it’s about how do you buy? Technically an RFQ is different than a RFP, i.e., Request for Quote versus Request for Proposal, where an RFP will fall under FAR 15 for Source Selection (higher dollar PO’s – purchase orders, typically services, where there’s complex evaluation criteria, including the possibility of needing a Source Selection Board), whereas an RFQ will fall under FAR Part 13 for Simplified Acquisition Procedures, i.e., falling under the Simplified Acquisition Threshold (varies from year to year sometimes).
A construction-based Invitation for Bid (IFB) will fall under FAR Part 14 relating to the Sealed Bidding process.
Further, FAR 8 relates to Mandatory Sources of Supply which establishes the order of precedence for which to by from, with the first source of supply technically being Agency Inventories, i.e., if the Army has extra desks, then technically the USAF should be getting those; however, no one really follows this and instead agencies go with other sources, such as General Services Administration, Federal Prison Industries (now called Unicor), Ability One (a successor to the National Institute for the Blind and Severely Handicapped, i.e., NIB NISH), and then General Service Administration schedules found on sites such as GSA e-Buy, GSA Advantage, etc.
Then if you can’t find your items or services via these services then you can go into the “marketplace” by position a notice, solicitation, or combination of both (FAR Part 13) via the Government Point of Entry (GPE), i.e., Federal Business Opportunities (which is now part of SAM.gov) https://sam.gov/content/opportunities
Oral quotes are often looked down upon, but simple acquisitions can include all solicitation details in an email, where as more complex acquisitions require forms such as SF 1442 (construction) or SF 1449s (commodities and services).
For suppliers to get access to federal bids they need to register for codes such as NAICS Codes (North American Industrial Classification Standards) which determines what type of industry they truly fall into, CAGE (Contractor and/or Commercial and Government Entity codes), Federal Supply Codes (FSC), PSC (Product Supply Codes), etc.
Davis Bacon Act of 1931 which relates to federal construction contracts to ensure workers are being paid fair “prevailing” “at a minimum” wages [See: Davis–Bacon Act of 1931 – Wikipedia]
The Miller Act of 1935 which requires contractors doing construction to government real property post surety bonds, i.e., bonds which allows a party to seek damages in the event of nonperformance, to insure they can finish projects (performance bonds) and pay workers and subcontractors (payment bonds), etc. [See: Miller Act – Wikipedia]
The Berry Amendment of 1941 which requires certain sources be sourced (shopped for) from domestic sources only [See: Berry Amendment – Wikipedia]
The Brooks Act of 1972 which requires that Architecture and Engineering services be based on quality, expertise, design, etc., and not price. A&E contracts come before construction which will then fall thereafter to Davis Bacon, Miller Act, etc. [See: Brooks Act – Wikipedia]
Defense Priority Act of 1950 which essentially allows the President to direct domestic manufacturing to defense and national security. Under this Act, you have the DPAS, i.e., Defense Priority Allocation System which rates contracts (purchase orders, or equal) on priority, i.e., a certain rating might require the manufacturer to make and deliver items or complete services within a mandatory fixed amount of time. This DPA may be used in tandem with the Stafford Act relating to Emergency Preparedness [See: Defense Production Act of 1950 – Wikipedia, Defense Priorities & Allocations System Program (DPAS) (doc.gov), DPAS Training Slides Final_November 2021.pptx (live.com).
False Claims Act, which prevents contractors from submitting false claims for damages against the Federal government, i.e., think Medicare Fraud by shady Florida doctors, etc. [See: False Claims Act – Wikipedia]
Support for or against the Ukraine War is diverse. It’s not a simple case of “Ukrainian Nazis” versus “Russian National Bolshevik…Nazis”. There are anti-war sides within both nations, with some Russians fleeing the United States to get away from the drafts, but there is also anti-war sentiment within nations that fall under each of the combatant nation’s hegemonic sphere of influence, i.e., you may have anti-war sentiment in the land-locked Steppe (-stan) nations more aligned – either willingly or out of fear – to Russia because they may be more vulnerable to inflationary pressure and high commodity prices such as on oil or grain, just as you have anti-war voices within the developed West such England or Canada. But, there’s also pro-war sides on both, yet these pro-war sides might be coming from hard ethno-nationalism, whereas others are coming from a general sense of national pride (patriotism for the idea of the state, not necessary fully dependent upon one’s blood or ancestry). Yet, there is also a mix of both, i.e., those who support fighting for whichever side yet wanting some sort of truce to come sooner than later. Then you have those who are indifferent to the conflict since it seems so far away.
In our world of social media from YouTube video essayists, to known actors or unknown actors on platforms like Twitter or Meta (Facebook), it is hard to get a clear picture. Technology and the general state of evolution in which we live is best defined en masse as the “postmodern epoch”, and this epoch is not political, but rather a landscape where it is hard distinguish real from fake, i.e., the Jean Baudrillard concept of the Simulacra and Simulation, i.e., when hyperreality produced from the state-subsidized capitalist, technological, and pop culture machine becomes indistinguishable from the physical world, where culture may or may not mutate into spliced anachronisms of style, symbols (semiotics), and iconography.
Yet, so as not to get too lost in discussions of postmodernity, many thinkers argued that postmodernity was dead and should stay dead, but as we’re seeing now, it is not dead, but rather we live in a world that physically allows us to experience it. This is not the 1960s through 1980s where most postmodernity was understood through literature, fiction, science fiction, and film, as a fun “thought experiment” or transgressive look into human nature, but we now have the actual tools they could only dream of, e.g., deep fakes, social media, avatars, the metaverse, Virtual Reality companions, cybercrime, “techno-terrorism” and espionage, etc. The worlds of William Gibson, Thomas Pynchon, Orson Scott Card, Don DeLillo, Bret Easton Ellis, Robert Heinlein, and Philip K. Dick, seem real, palpable., and the effects of this lingering postmodernity – which is not innately bad since it is essentially a tool or lens to analyze society if done with caution and for the right purposes, i.e., analyzing systems of oppression to establish humanist reform – is that it is affecting…warfare. The modern battlefield where tactics are executed, to the think tanks and closed door “FOUO” “Top Secret” meetings where strategy is formulated, the modern world must factor in topics like memetic warfare, co-opted YouTubers whose main “patrons” are foreign governments, etc.
Hence, everything is fuzzy. And, a little depressing. It is easy to just want to watch streaming apps, watch porn, get drunk, and go through the motions of work as we penny pinch our wallets to pay our bills. It is easy to see Ukraine as a waste of time, but Ukraine represents in part the sustainment of the American Way of Life, while also the freedom of Ukraine. Think of it like concept of the universe expanding. There needs to be some sort of expansion to maintain relevancy, because the worse option, i.e., contraction, is terrifying, i.e., it’s better to have never-ending expansion, than a violent Big Crunch (i.e., just think about the fall of the British Empire). Complaining about returning to the old days and how younger generations are “soft” aren’t productive, because they did not set this train of events in motion.
II. The Factions:
Regarding the Ukraine War based my personal observations the below camps exist:
(1) The Dove “Down with the Man” Anti-NATO Left which encompasses figures such as Max Blumenthal, Andrew Mate, Jackson Hinkle, Katie Halper, Matt Taibbi [who is of Russian descent], Jimmy Dore – who often seems more comfortable with Tucker Carlson – similarly as Tulsi Gabbard, etc. This camp is often influenced by Noam Chomsky with Manufacturing Consent, Michael Parenti with To Kill a Nation, John Perkins with Confessions of an Economic Hitman, etc. Yet, as far as individuals there are a range of ideologies spanning from Marxist-Leninist Communists (i.e., called Tankies), other variants of Communists that may not entirely agree with Marxist ideology (think Rosa Luxemburg), Anarcho-Socialists – some may even say “Libertarian Socialists”, Democratic Socialists, Social Democrats, Centre-Left Liberals (i.e., traditional American Democrats or British Liberal Democrats), etc., with all claiming to some degree – at least in the USA to be “Progressive”.
Yet, conservatives on the right wing, indifferent to providing any nuance to the Left, often lumps everyone as “progressives” while insinuating all progressives are communists., and to be fair, the Left does this often to the right-wing labeling all people as “Fascists”, yet, I would argue that Right Wing politics typically is more “lockstep” cohesive, often because as far as the West it represents the “colonial and/or imperial class”, i.e., the right-leaning predominately white majority (e.g., the Republican Party as far as policy and aesthetics derives it mythology from American settlers, i.e., Manifest Destiny, White Zionism, “Home on the Range”, etc., while British conservatives are nostalgic for the British “Queen Jubilee” Imperium of Georgian, Victorian, Edwardian England). For example, the American “Redneck”, South African Boer, Australian “Bogan”, Canadian “prairie homesteader”, etc., are all essentially the same thing, i.e., the white racial buffer class to the white colonial elite.
This Dovish Left side of the house has merit traditionally speaking, such as calling out the Bush Administration with the Global War on Terrorism, the Patriot Act, FISA Court warrants, and has supported freedom for Julian Assange (some say he’s a Russian asset), Chelsea Manning, and Edward Snowden – with Snowden having fled to Russia.
But there is also a “counterculture” aspect with intersections that can easily bleed into conspiracy theory, e.g., the “con-spiritualist” scene, i.e., green and healthy living mixed with Ancient Alien or Antediluvian theories, Gaia Theory, Wiccan or Heathen thought, and the anti-vaccine theories such as those Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (who instantly invokes conspiracies about the assassinations of his father and his uncle, JFK, which typically leads to theories about the mafia, CIA, Allen Dulles, etc.).
The utopian ideals of the “hippie Left” though honorable and good intentioned does not have a coherent foreign policy and often in its utopianism, often lacking constant effort and work by its adherents (protesting, yes, but with the boring, consistent, and dirty work such as volunteering, the results are iffy).
This dilemma often sets the Left up to be blamed for society’s ills, e.g., how Fox News is blaming homelessness caused by narcoterrorism from Mexican Cartels and Chinese Chemicals on anti-fascists who protested police during the BLM protests, or how conservatives blame crime rates on the Left despite police officers still collecting paychecks and pensions (and, with no actual federal level police reform bill passed).
“Peace, man…” or being a know-it-all on America’s follies is not a coherent foreign policy, considering many of the countries this Leftist side stands up for as they decry American Imperialism are often funding hostile activities towards Americans, and might have cultures that are not open to progressivism. This side of the house has a tendency to blanketly blame the CIA and USA for all the ills of the world (they are no saints), yet, the Left needs to understand that many friends and foes respect realpolitik, strength through force, etc.
This “far out” conspiracy culture, which is fun to engage in from time to time, seems to have been co-opted by America’s enemies, and merged with the right-wing to undermine America (a flanking strategy of left and right).
To finish up on the “Dove Left”, notably about the “Tankies” I spoke about above, they have this idea that Russia is still this romanticized worker’s republic of the Soviets. I would rather deal with the Soviets than Putin’s Right-Wing Russia where his neoliberal reforms have resulted in rampant corruption and wealth disparity.
Instagram for example has very interesting pages about life in the Soviet Union, brutalist architectural pages, pages dedicated to Soviet cosmonauts, etc. Yet, the Tankies are the byproduct of being disenchanted with the avarice of boom-and-bust cycle capitalism and billionaires like Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos, etc., with this mood having spilled over from the 2008 Financial Crash and the decade long recession thereafter.
Socialism is popular now, and I don’t mind that in theory at all, because it offers a good analysis about how our system works and how to improve it. Socialism is popular largely because the US educational system bent on creating capitalists didn’t fully explain the true and complex history of it, but rather demonized it fully. Conservatives for example use to call centrists Democrats, as being Communists, which is ridiculous, so, well, you get what you ask for.
Yet, regarding Ukraine, some Tankies side with Russia out of some foregone nostalgia, where most were not even alive when the USSR was around. I’m almost 40 years old (born an Army brat) and I barely remember the Cold War as it came to an end in the late 1980s. The problem with American Tankies is they are relying on a foreign source to define their ideology instead of looking internally to previous American Left Wing movements, i.e., it is OK to be a Communist if that is your persuasion but it is OK to also be patriotic because one would think that adhering to such a drastic ideology would hopefully be for…love on one’s county, and not merely the destruction it because its “imperialist”, and the CIA is “boogeyman, bad”.
I, as a black man have every reason to be angry at the US but America is in my blood and I’d rather define it and improve it rather than tear it down.
Even if one thinks that nation-states are bad, as if they are some sort of internationalist Trotskyite, then at least focus on your backyard before thinking about saving the world in full.
The next group with opinions about Ukraine is…
(2) The predominately white demographic, fear based Pro-Russia camp that is also anti-NATO, anti-CIA. This is a surprising shift because they use to be about both but now with their “racial replacement fear” they are against it because they see NATO as a reason for refugees, etc. These types of Right Wingers are a mix of conspiracy culture ranging from the Great Replacement, allegedly via plans such as Kalegri Plan to replace white Europeans by “flooding” the Northern hemisphere with people from the Southern Hemisphere – which is a theory embroiled in white privilege thinking considering the West and USA needed immigration to keep growing and immigrants do the jobs that the elevated the white “native populations” from poverty and since these “nativists” won’t downsize to lower wage job, for fear of losing the fancier things in life. But, now suddenly, they wish to reject those fancier things (allegedly), returning to some sort of “Indo-European, cough – Aryan” culture (German paganism, etc.) or medieval monarchism after spending decades gloating about their fancier things/superior civilization at the expense of other cultures. This is to say the least, hypocritical.
Sure, rampant or emergency based refugee crises or immigration isn’t ideal or comfortable, and certain cultures may have issues such as Sharia Islam in relation to Western secularism. However, instead of hate, there needs to be bridges. If one’s idea is better, supposedly, then sell that idea. I am a firm believer in the Melting Pot theory as opposed to multiculturalism.
Further, there is the Great Reset Theory which is from people interpreting thinkers like Alvin Toffler with his book The Third Wave, the book The Fourth Industrial Revolution by the World Economic Forum founder, etc., where people believe a the New World Order is using “shock doctrine” (the topic of a book by the same name by Naomi Klein), “manufactured austerity”, “merging genders”, “transhumanism”, and biological warfare – such as the Coronavirus 19 – to “terraform” the world into a one-world, integrated, genetically modified, and borderless system ruled by a powerful elite using digital currency, but by which all of it threatens white supremacy, i.e., very similar to old theories such as ZOG, i.e., Zionist Occupied Government, which is an outgrowth of the antisemitic Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
The one currency concept is ironic since most Pro-crypto thought comes from these Jeffersonian, libertarian, Ron Paul, I hate government types, but the truth is most crypto has already been mined by the rich or anti-American nation states.
The World Economic Forum, as well as Davos, have become the poster children of what people see as a sort of Eyes Wide Shut amoral class of technocrats who are undemocratically designing the world in their own liking. Is there truth here? Yes! But, to what degree is debatable and such a large cabal requires way too much coordination. The only such coordination can only be possible with Elon Musk types.
The criticisms of this camp, same as that of the No.1 with the Dove Left are not entirely unfounded because there are problems with the existing technocratic world order where the common man or woman better understands topics such as World Bank, Bank of International Settlements, or World Trade Organization corruption, International Monetary Fund predatory lending, regime change, and the fact the rich seem to get richer after each catastrophe, etc.
The sad truth is that there ARE actual conspiracies that people see but little seems to get done about it, and if so, the punishments are often lite. For example, think of the relationship of NXIVM via Sara Bronfman whose husband, Swiss based wheeler, and dealer, Basit Igtet lead peace talks in the wake of the Libyan Revolution that toppled Gaddafi. There’s no denying a link between the two people, even though the events themselves were separate.
If anything, both No. 1 and No. 2., are responding to a sense of helplessness in the face of a very real machine, and America’s shameful history, ranging from giving amnesty to Nazis in World War II to the truths behind real experiments such as MK Ultra has led many to go off the deep end, trapped in nihilistic malaise. Movements such as Qanon exploited this fact, manipulating No. 2’s animus that centers around white exceptionalism while also being conservative on the surface as means of preserving their pleasure seeking and hedonism that goes on behind closed doors. I am no Freudian, but his emphasis on sex as the root of all things seems to explain these Alt-Right minions, because their affinity for movements like the Men’s Right movement is the result of feeling sexually repressed or unlucky, especially with boys raised on Instagram and with free pornography, where studies have shown social media beauty standards has also had negative effects on young girls.
Yet, this Qanon movement seems to have been highly manufactured by an international cabal of American conservatives, Russians, and possibly even Israeli Zionists, who blended everything from Millennialism and eschatology, Manifest Destiny, Zionism, Cold War Anti-Communism, the 1980s Satanic Panic, Nietzsche & nihilism (the need for struggle, the concept of eternal recurrence, etc.), Soldier of Fortune “Timothy McVeigh” type militia culture, racism (every Right Wing group involved at Charlottesville), homophobia, transphobia, sexism, Western exceptionalism, antisemitism, paganism, esoteric and occult thought (i.e., memes as form of tarot or alchemical spell to influence people), Alex Jones (serving as one of many “circuit board operators” of this movement), American and British Puritanism, Catholic “Deus Vult” fascism (ranging from the talking points of figures such as Michael J. Matt, all the way to the Pepe The Frog cynicism of Alt-Right/Neo Nazi figures like Nick Fuentes and the Goyim Defense League), Eastern Orthodox Christianity (such as the musings of Jay Dyer who is an avowed monarchist that rejects democracy, but also Jonathan Pageau), conspiracy theory, “Reject Modernity, Embrace Tradition” callings, etc.
Qanon was essentially a “thought bomb” or informational warfare where some element might rub off on a person’s subconscious making them pay attention to the messaging. It appealed to older generations who didn’t have the best grasp of emergent technology, while also catering to younger naïve people who weren’t around for previous events to fully understand their contexts.
Most regular everyday people don’t see what the Right Wing is doing because they’ve fled off the traditional platforms and onto websites like Rockfin, Telegram, Gab, Rumble, etc.
For example, KKK leader David Duke had an apartment in Moscow and met with Russian Eurasianist theorist Aleksandr Dugin. Dugin later was a guest on InfoWars, same as Jay Dyer who with his wife Jamie Hanshaw were featured on 2.19.2023 (with Dyer contributing to InfoWars multiple times and he too interviewed Aleksandr Dugin. Jay Dyer was on Warski Live (a podcast) with Lauren Southern, who also interviewed Dugin in Russia, but later became a contributor to SkyNews Australia, under the Murdoch Media empire, which of course owns Fox News in the USA. Southern was also an associated of Proud Boy’s Founder and ex-Vice founder, Gavin McInnes, with both being Canadian (like other “Intellectual Dark Web” Figures such as Jordan B. Peterson and Stefan Molyneux). Neo Nazis have been known to go to Russia, as well as other Eastern European nations.
(3) There is a new demographic that I would call the Pro-War or Realpolitik Left or Liberal, where the common person who falls on this side of the political spectrum supports military action against Russia because they see Russian as representing an anti-progressive and/or anti-democratic threat to the West and the freedoms it enjoys. This is why you often notice Pro-Ukraine Flags in liberal cities or college towns, etc. They see Russia has an anti-democratic dictatorship that oppresses marginalized groups and who meddled in US politics, going as far as empowering the United States own Right-Wing movements which has resulted in influencing domestic terrorism, notably white nationalist domestic terrorism.
For example, Fox News has always been criticized for its hyper-partisan and hyperbolic approach to reporting on the news cycle, but Fox News has also backed pro-Russian sentiments.
This seems hypocritical because pundits including Tucker Carlson himself supported the Middle East Wars but now suddenly becomes a pacifist regarding a “white” country that seems to enjoy oppressing women [wife beating is legal], etc.
The things about this Realpolitik Left or Liberal is that even before the Ukraine War, many were sympathetic to the refugees caused by NATO intervention in Syria and Libya, with some going as far as sponsoring refugees to live in their homes. So, this sides isn’t as “ideological” than that of current conservatives, but rather pragmatic., i.e., they saw the hundreds of thousands of Middle Eastern and African refugees as a consequence of not only despotic governments but also the West’s inability to engage in diplomacy with said governments, yet, there’s more sympathy for engaging in war with Russia because Russia is seen as an existential threat with a proven track record of hostility towards the West (e.g., poisoning journalists, our traditional Cold War nemesis where Putin can’t let the loss go, creating a parallel foreign policy to that of the USA so they can butt into American diplomatic missions as a means of recapturing their lost glory after the fall of the Berlin Wall).
Next, we have…
(4) The traditional Hawkish, Neoconservative Republican Camp, which due to be taken over by the populism of Donald Trump’s MAGA movement, which was in part a reaction to the Neoconservatism of the Bush-Cheney and Clinton Eras, have largely fallen in line with the Pro-Russia Camp. This is where Meaghan McCain, Liz Cheney, Lindsey Graham, Adam Kinzinger, etc., reside at., yet, Kinzinger resisted the January 6th Insurrectionists, same as Cheney, but by doing so, both Kingzinger and Cheney lost their Congressional seats, showing how deeply entrenched MAGA was and still is. Figures like Tucker Carlson threads the line between No. 4 and No. 2., but is slipping more No. 2 because of more vitriolic competition from agencies like OAN and Newsmax.
Then of course we have…
(5) Non-Far Right Ukrainians, and international expatriates living abroad in the US, Canada, etc., simply wanting national autonomy from Russia, who see their relatives being killed as a result of Russian aggression. Most Americans were unaware of the Ukrainian community but the Western “bread basket” provinces have a rich history.
I know a woman who is of Ukrainian descent and is a very nice person, a Democrat, a feminist who is raising two strong daughters who often perform traditional Ukrainian dances to raise funds for charity, etc., but I had to watch her social media as she showed her hometown being raised by Russian troops.
Also, we have…
(6) Far Right Nationalist Ukrainians wanting freedom from Russia, but these types feed into the Anti-NATO Far Right who point to the Azov Battalion, etc., as proof of rampant Nazism in Ukraine. Are there Nazis in Ukraine? Absolutely, but there are Nazis in the United States as we speak (some in our military), such as Atomwaffen which has attempted to blow up power plants, etc.
The irony of the Anti-NATO Right Wing is they are soft or dismissive of Nazis riding the coattails of the Republican Party, but then anti-Nazi because NATO is going after their beloved Vladmir Putin, i.e., daddy.
Yet, having nationalist sentiments isn’t always bad, but it’s bad when nationalism explicitly becomes an exclusionary and supremacist ideology. Being patriotic in a socially acceptable way is not bad. Yet, there is truth to the Ukrainian Nazi accusation but to what is extent is debatable. It is true that going back as far as World War II that the OSS, i.e., the later CIA, did recruit former Nazi collaborating Ukrainians as cadres, i.e., cells, to combat Communist forces in post war Europe. The CIA even admits this on its own website. However, Ukraine, like Finland with Carl Gustaf Mannerheim was in a precarious position in WWII. The Ukrainians nor the Fins didn’t want to be conquered by the Reds (Communists), so they sided with the Nazis (with the Allied Powers not giving much if any military assistance against the Nazis), but there were cases of Ukrainians murdering their Nazi officers, considering the Germans wanted to eventually make the Slavs into literal slaves. A complicated case of the “enemy of my enemy is my friend”. However, real war crimes were committed.
(7) Ukrainian based separatist Russians, with their international Russian ex-patriate comrades – many living in the United States, Canada, etc. – who seem themselves similar to “Germans”, where Germans during nationalistic eras of old acted like a “race” (ethnicity in reality) of people fighting for their civilization and felt they needed expansion (lebensraum) to preserve themselves, but this tendency in some modern day Russians – largely fostered by Putin himself – destabilizes now independent nations freed form the ex-Soviet Union, such as Eastern Ukraine, possibly the Baltic States, and as of March 2023 we are seeing “Pan Slavic””Z” protests in the Czech Republic and Moldova asking for the West to the stop the war. [1] An anti-government protest in Czech capital draws thousands | Stars and Stripes, [2] Moldova police arrest members of Russian-backed network over unrest plot | Moldova | The Guardian
About me: Everyday guy. US Air Force veteran (honorable discharge). AmeriCorps alumus. BA in Business, Associates in Applied Science in Contracts Management, and Master of Science in Management with Operations Management focus. I’m black American, but supposedly with some Muskogee Creek heritage (allegedly) but my last name is Scottish (crazy story). I was raised a US Army military brat having lived in Florida, Kansas, Germany, Washington State, and Georgia. My grandads fought in World War II and Korea. I’m a pro-military, patriotic, Progessive who enjoys Left Wing thought but I’m more of a 3rd way thinker, i.e., I see capitalism as a tool rather than something to worship. My socialist sympathies actually comes from being raised in the military. I used to be in the Young Democrats but grew up in Ronald Reagan suburbia (interesting upbringing). I was raised all over from truck driving, gun owning Georgians to Seattle or Olympia Hippies to Washington DC civil servants. I was born “poor” or “lower middle class” but my parents worked hard to make it upper middle class.
Cheers.
Read the full list since there’s no order to it.
Be a little weird and think outside the box.
Participatory Budgeting where citizens vote on what percentage they want their taxes going, everyone’s submissions are averaged out, but then legislators do the same thing. Both are averaged and used as a baseline for Budgeting.
Merge the census with tax returns to cut costs if not by law then by executive order
Review federal acquisition procedures to ensure procurement practices are optimal
Require the FDA to do its own internal independent review of drugs approvals rather than taking Big Pharma’s word for it.
Better publicize what the federal government does in fun commercials such as what’s going on in science, agriculture, historic preservation, national parks, environmental efforts like the restoring animals on the Endagered Species List, Army Corps of Engineers, NOAA (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration)
Instill a spirit of customer service amongst public (civil) servants so the general public improves their perception of government
The possibility of using Enterprise Resource Planning system tools like SAP in government agencies to better coordinate finance (as to comply with rules such as the bona fide need rule, Misappropriation Act, colors-of-money), procurement offices, auditors, senior leadership, etc. One government, one language as far as ERP, SaaS (Software as a Service), Asset Management Tools, freight carrier guides with 3PLs (third party logistics).
Establish a Loving Day based on the Loving Supreme Court case to celebrate multiracial families where celebrities of biracial or multiracial heritage talk about their lives such as Derek Jeter, Pete Wentz, Patrick Mahomes, Mariah Carey, Halle Barry, Blake Griffin, Zach LaVine, The Rock, Meghan Markle, Cameron Champ, etc. See article: https://andscape.com/features/black-pga-golfer-cameron-champ-is-going-places-his-grandfather-wasnt-allowed
Encourage telework and refurbish commercial space into residential space
Deflate the College Cost Bubble by using the Department of Labor to challenge hiring criteria of businesses where many require expensive advanced degrees when jobs might require less costly education, i.e., increasing the value of a high school diploma again, etc; requiring schools getting federal assistance or whom have had past substantial federal assistance on financial brink to consolidate to cut costs
Allow negotiation of Medicare drug costs
Establish a federal corporation that invests in prescription drug stocks because by doing so this agency can better negotiate by buying or selling shares
Medicare Now! Let people use thru Medicare earlier before retirement
Lay the ground work for single-payer Healthcare by flipping the FICA formula so out of the 7.65% where 6.20% goes to Social Security and the rest, 1.45%, towards Medicare/Medicaid (where your employes matches your contribution), you flip it but you do it slowly so those who paid into Social Security and are near retirement can get their full benefits (unless they opt for more Medicare). Raise the overall 7.65% to 8-10%.
E.U. style data protection for US consumers
Regulate crypto currency such as requiring exhanges to obtain private insurance and to get rated by rating agencies, apply Glass Steagall Act like regulations such as Banning a merging of crypto exchanges with hedge funds or banks, but ban federal insurance or bailouts altogether.
Also require digital currencies be backed by some sort of convertible asset like gold or silver
Issue a Defense Production Act edict to gold miners to mine more gold and silver to continue increasing our vault reserves
Presidential Council of Elders where ex Presidents convene yearly to show unity across political lines and for them to consult and come to consensus where they feel laws should go or issues to address. More of an opinion panel.
Not to Exceed Age Limits for Justices such as 70 or 80 as opposed to term limits so we don’t get activist judges who constantly flip on laws as one judge takes over from the other, etc. Yet, we don’t get judges who are always in the hospital once very old
A Total Energy Policy that includes both green and fossil fuels including converting nuclear weapons into energy fuel for reactors, while handing over fuselages to the aerospace industry such as to send satellites into in orbit
Full Legalization of Cannabis and help with military recruitment by disallowing the asking about prior or post service (in the case of re-entry) Marijuana usage.
End the Cuban Trade Embargo, allow remittance payments thru Western Union, allow travel, etc., but with conditions such as distancing themselves from China and Russia
The possible establishment of a US Space Force Academy in a place like Cape Canaveral or Daytona Beach (near Embry Riddle Aeronautical University), Houston, Hunstville AL, or Santa Barbara (even if it has to still fall under the guidance of the USAFA and Air Education Training Command). Even if the school has to start off as a two year school for junior and seniors who do their first two years at the USAFA. An academy size comparable to smaller academies such as US Coast Guard Academy or US Merchant Marine Academy. Name facilities after famous astronauts.
Operation Gerbil or Gerbil Maze with NASA and companies like Blue Origin, SpaceX, Astra, etc. Replace nodes on the International Space Station with new sections but send the old ones to the Moon so we have materials to establish a small research facility. Scrap junk missions to land materials on the moon such as wiring, aluminum, etc.
Re-establish mental asylums with funds and grants to states via DHHS to help with the mentally ill homeless population.
Separate mental asylums, drug rehab, and jail where in many cases these are merge to cut costs especially as jails become more privatized
Fund clean needle exchanges and promote one-time use needles.
Urge cities that have lax policies on homeless peoples to encourage these people to clean their areas, aka, you can stay here if you clean the streets. This can be done by coordinating with non profit organizations, local police, etc.
Urge ISP service providers to require adult sites have Two Factor Authentication to prevent minors from accessing pornography
Reform federal sugar subsidies
Transition After Training (TAT) for Transgender service people where recruits after basic training, completing trade school and upon reaching a rank that permits off base living or single quarters will have the ability to transition.
Department of Justice mandate to protect Trans people if jailed be it local, state, or federal such as solitary confinement or protective custody to prevent them being abused or harassed
Artic Defense Pact as an extension of NATO, NORAD, and AFNORTH with Canada, US, Denmark, UK, Japan and Nordic countries to exercise and coordinate defense of the arctic especially as climate change opens waterways
Expand the early commissioning program at Junior Military Colleges but also schools like Embry Riddle Aeronautical University
Expand the pay out for Enlisted College Loan Repayment Plans
Expand the Segal Education Award for the Peace Corps, AmeriCorps, Teach America
House arrests for petty crimes as opposed to jailing
Policies to end racial segregation in jails such as isolating violent criminals from inmates capable of rehab.
Segregate based on crimes committed and character (not race) instead of bunching all types of criminals together.
STD testing for all inmates before entry, while incarcerated, and before exit (added 12/19/22)
Encourage the expansion of open stock market exchanges on Eastern Time to close on West Coast or Central (Chicago) Time so trading hours are extended a little bit
Include Mexico’s top universities into the Association of American Universities with the US and Canada to promote goodwill
Use Border Wall funding as leverage for increased gun control (not confiscation)
Return parts of federal land to Native Tribes and Native Hawaiians
Fly the flags of Native Tribes on federal property
Investigate Highway of Tears Native femicides with Canada
Free or very cheap HBCUs and 0% federally insured fixed rate mortgages as a reparations package for black Americans similar to the GI Bill and VA Home Loan
Require truck drivers submit DNA swabs since many unsolved crimes were submitted by truckers. Also, pilots such as those who use smaller off the radar air strips (added 12/19/22)
I believe in the United States. I want it to succeed. I believe that any issue can be solved if you put effort into it. I considering myself a “patriot”. My ancestors were slaves, we worked this land without respect, my family served in major battles such as World War II and Korea, The Cold War, but also the Iraq-Afghanistan conflicts, I served, and I consider myself a proud American. Yet, I am a Leftist (a Sound Money, cautious Keynesian, market democratic socialist – in my head) because based on my patriotism, I side with the working classes. I have no patience for racism or sexism, and I generally want everyone to live a content happy life confident in their identity no matter what race, gender, sexual orientation, sexual assignment, religion or lack thereof, ethnicity, physical ability, etc., they happen to be. I am proud to be “woke” because I see all the criticism against it, and I realize that people are getting in the way of progress because of fear. They fear losing whatever idea of social privileges they think they have, yet elevating others who were pushed to the margins of society is not a threat to anyone and if anything will help to get over the closeted issues that conservatism helps perpetuate since conservatism doesn’t adequately deal with issues, yet, instead it tries to cover them up, e.g., conservatives demonizing gay people thus denying their very being and thus subjecting them danger such as lack of health care access. One can easily say the same thing for minorities such Native Americans who live in rural ghettos or women who have always been second class citizens when relating to the egos of men. I don’t hate conservatives and in many ways I admire the Norman Rockwell-esque iconography of the United States which I grew up in even as a black man, but this country includes other people.
I am happy that Biden is President. I sleep better at night. I function better during the day knowing that there isn’t as much drama as what happened under Trump. Being in my now mid-thirties, an older Millennial, my entire adult life has been defined by drama from 9/11, to the wars in the Middle East, to stock market crashes, to the fall of with in institutions regarding topics such as spying which helped to create a rampant online conspiracy theory culture, to new discussion around race or gender, etc. I am a progressive. I am a Leftist, but I do accept Realpolitik and pragmatism, so Biden despite being the “system” is in theory the best we can have at this point. It’s not necessarily inspiring, but at least
‘There’s a lot of hate of President Biden but considering most of it is the residue of the Qanon MAGA verse but also even from progressives within his own party because he’s not progressive enough. Yet, I see myself as an average American guy, college educated, decent job, a home, and I’m glad Biden is president because I feel like 2016-2020 destroyed the United States. A very depressing time seeing Far Right racist with Russian sympathies be platformed, but also my mind being constantly prodded by the postmodern assault of social media, the news, etc. I see Biden as a boring sense of peace and stability after a time of intense over-thinking, philosophical thinking, adapting to new technology, etc. It’s ok to take a “chill pill”, yet, Biden does need to push forward, i.e., the time IS NOW, to push forward with Green Energy, police reform, reinvigorating the labor movement in a new paradigm of technological innovation (e.g., computer programmers are often not unionized despite working a very stressful job, but there are also people within traditional industries such as manufacturing or production who aren’t unionized despite federal mandated wages not rising since 2008).
Yet, as a former economics student in college in my youth, I do think about macroeconomic policy and the future of the USA. I’m not a doomsday person. I feel that doomsday people often using fear to enrich themselves such as pushing up the price of gold for their own benefit or even pushing crypto-currency. I joke, I am a “fiat bro”, i.e., I do support the “paper money regime” because…this is what runs the global economy. Why would I bet against something I get paid in? Why would I bet against something that the world uses? I find it funny that people who championed gold or silvers, are not crypto advocates but to me digital currency is even worst than paper dollars, i.e., I can’t hold it.
Who will be a strong enough leader to do the right thing? No President be they Democrat or Republican wants to raise taxes to help pay down the national debt. Sometimes in my head I think what if were to implement the “Economic Crucible”? By this I mean higher taxes, higher interest rates, slashing spending, but to cover the harder environment we de-regulate, legalize, and/or privatize certain aspects of the economy? Yet, I am sure this would have dire consequences at this point. However, debt isn’t entirely bad, considering all industrialized nations are in debt and most of these nations are allies who vouch for each other’s debt. It’s not like the US is some weak nation who can’t stand up for itself in the face of creditors and many nations would never even dare to stand up to the United States on debt, e.g., a strong military with global scope, a consumer population who buys goods and services, relative political stability, and safety, etc.
Debt to the average person is bad, i.e., you trying to pay of a credit card (revolving credit), but to a nation it’s not the same thing, because the state is the state, i.e., the state is the law, can use force, and represents the entirety of its citizens. Debt levels may be high, but all other strong nations have a similar situation, yet, no country has the global leadership role that the United States does and many of our allies have consented to the US having such a role of global leadership, i.e., we do the dirty work that other nations don’t want to do, and the US can be the key negotiator between other parties. One could even argue that the ability to rack up large amounts of debt is a special privilege granted to industrialized nations because they have the geo-strategic alliances, assets, core competencies/intellectual property when it comes to producing advanced goods and are the consumer base of the world.
So, I’m not a doomsday person when it comes national debt (I am not a hardcore Austrian economics gold-standard lover or anarcho-capitalist “down with the system” Bitcoin bro), however, to sustain the global economic system between the major powers, one does have to show good faith payments on their debt, and therefore taxes need to go up. Even though all the allies are friends in this debt exchange system that affects foreign exchange rates and trade, there still is a level of mistrust as far as one’s ability to effectively pay their bills. Taxes are needed to reduce the amount of deficit spending already on the books but also show creditors (our allies) that we are willing to do the hard thing to show good faith. Sure, they won’t call our debt, but the ability to make good faith payments with taxes doesn’t help to restore a sense of faith, i.e., it reduces the sweating of our lenders, i.e., bond holders.
Yet, what has Biden does so far?
Passed a 1.2 trillion Infrastructure Bill where according to Lobosco & Luhby (2021) of CNN, “the bill will deliver $550 billion of new federal investments in America’s infrastructure over five years, touching everything from bridges and roads to the nation’s broadband, water and energy systems. Experts say the money is sorely needed to ensure safe travel, as well as the efficient transport of goods and produce across the country. The nation’s infrastructure system earned a C- score from the American Society of Civil Engineers earlier this year.” Yet, according to the Congressional Budget Office, the package would add $256 billion to the deficit over the next 10 years (Lobosco & Luhby, 2021).
Passed the 1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan
Will sign the nearly 800 billion annual National Defense Authorization Act funding the military, special forces operations, intelligence, etc.
Will sign the I Am Venessa Guillen Bill which is a provision in the NDAA which takes sexual assault investigations away from military Chain of Commands, and instead creates a separate investigative board since Chain of Commands such as those at Fort Hood helped bury sexual assault cases.
With NATO Leadership support, President Biden followed on the Trump Era Doha Agreement between the US and Taliban and withdrew US forces from Afghanistan (Liptak and Sullivan, 2021, CNN). This withdrawal from one perspective was just in that the war in Afghanistan did achieve some things such as helping women, but overall, the war was very costly to US taxpayers considering it was funded on debt as opposed to tax increases, so the war bill will continue to grow with interests’ payments. Yet, one could argue withdrawing from Afghanistan has remove the US from The Grand Chessboard, i.e., the strategic location of Central Asia near Russia, Iran, China, and Pakistan. Therefore in my opinion even liberal outlets decried Biden’s removal of troops, and they used “social justice”, i.e., “tear jerking tactics”, e.g., Vice News showing aggrieved veterans who felt the war wasn’t won or showing the blight of Afghan women, to convince the President to stay in the region, yet, these goals aren’t necessarily from humanitarianism but a way to continue militarism in the region, i.e., funding the military industrial complex and its contractors. One could argue that leaving Afghanistan makes the region more of a security threat to the Russians, Chinese, and Pakistanis, i.e., them focusing on Taliban or their enemies with ISIS in the region will keep them preoccupied. For example, Russia can’t just focus on the Eastern European theater but now must worry about their vast border with Central Asian nations, i.e., this help divert Russian resources away from Eastern Europe and towards Central Asia (where the Russians didn’t have much luck such with the Soviet Afghan War).
Biden has threatened Russia with sanctions such as sanctions relating to the SWIFT (The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) system if Russia continues military action in Ukraine and decides to conduct a second wave of invasions into the country.
Sources vary but around 65,000 to 70,000 Afghan refugees were brought to the United States. When Joe Biden withdrew from Afghanistan both sides of the political spectrum have Biden criticism, yet surprisingly even certain figures on the political-right tried to use the humanitarian catastrophe card. Yet, according to Hennessey-Fiske (2021), of the LA Times, “Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August, 124,000 people have been evacuated to the U.S., including 67,000 Afghan allies. Of those Afghans, 10,000 have been resettled with the help of nonprofit agencies in communities across the nation, according to the Biden administration.”. Lastly, under the Biden Administration, $6.3 Billion has been allocated to resettlement efforts (Hennessey-Fiske, 2021, LA Times). Yet, according to Caitlin Doornbos (2021) of Military.com, as of December 7, 2021, only 34,000 refugees remained on US bases such as Fort Bliss in Texas, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey, Fort McCoy in Wisconsin, Camp Atterbury in Indiana, Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico, and Fort Pickett and Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia.
Opened Cops Hiring Program (CHP) applications worth ~$139 million to police agencies across the country
Opened nearly 80k acres of offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico
Yet, Biden has also re-entered the Paris Climate Accord after Trump withdrew from the agreement, largely with Trump feeding off his base’s climate change skepticism, but also his view that the US would fall behind if nations like China or India would continue to use dirty energy. Yet, when you see Biden’s offshore drilling policy, it calls into question his honest intentions around combating climate change and hitting carbon emission reduction targets. According to Matt McGrath (2021) of the BBC, “This new target, possibly for 2030, and President Biden’s commitment to reaching net zero emissions by 2050, will be the guide rails for the US economy and society for decades to come.”
Convinced Australia to purchase US submarines as opposed to French submarines
Extended the moratorium on student loan payments and interests’ payments into spring 2022
Kept the Trump Era Title 42 health risk loophole to maintain the Stay in Mexico asylum seeking policy, i.e., asylum seekers must claim asylum from their own country or from Mexico (where many Central American refugees travel to)
Made Juneteenth, i.e., the official day that slavery in the United States ended (not to be confused with the Emancipation Proclamation) a Federal Holiday
What needs to be done?
The George Floyd Justice in Policing Bill needs to be signed considering police are still getting funding, and systemically one could argue the justice system hasn’t reformed much. This bill passing is something that BIPOC peoples but also many white people want, despite the police issue often being framed through a black liberation versus the system framework. Passing the bill, I would argue would help evolve policing and even help police officers, i.e., I see the potential passage of it as continuous improvement, and restoring trust equates to civilians not being so fearful when approached by police. With the First Step Act passed under Trump alongside the hopeful passage of the MORE Act and George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, the United States will still have police officers but society will have a more progressive criminal justice system such as people not being arrested for marijuana offenses, people who have used marijuana be given the change to seek better paying employment or military service (helping recruiting), and the public will feel the system actually listens to them.
Biden has been effective but not the most effective, but he’s keeping the lights on, and things are improving slowly. I am trying to write this objectively, i.e., above progressivism and conservatism. In many ways, Biden is quite boring. Yet, Biden is doing what needs to be done in certain regards such as trying to restore faith in alliances that Donald Trump in theory helped to jeopardize such as Biden meeting with NATO leaders, considering the United States doesn’t want to lose a foothold over the historically nationalistic, multi-ethnic, and multi-lingual region (remembering WWI, WWII, the Napoleonic Wars, Thirty Years Wars, various wars of successions, etc.) especially as ambitious leaders such as France’s Emmanuel Macon (who isn’t anti-American, but more so, competitive) wants to assert French primacy. The fact that France and Germany can use their economic leverage to balance the West versus Russia increases if NATO fails and this in theory might be great for those who are dovish on foreign policy, yet in theory, a Europe without a strong unified bond with the United States to take the bad publicity for Europe could unleash a chaotic mix of nationalistic sentiments as Europeans don’t see themselves as living in solidarity with mutual interests, but rather might start seeing themselves as competitors where such competition can be easily exploited by emergent or wannabe emergent superpowers such as China and Russia (remembering that China has heavily invested in European infrastructure projects and Russia also has a near monopoly on natural gas pipelines). For example, the Far Right “ethno-nationalist” ideology coming from Kremlin through thinkers such as Aleksandr Dugin, has affect European politics, but the truth is that an “ethno-state” would effectively isolate a nation to be exploited or bribed by a nation such as Russia. In other words, if NATO ever fails, which is what Russia and China wants, sure, this could help Germany or France become the de-facto leaders of the European Union (which in theory they already are, i.e., Germany and France providing most of the bailout money via the European Central Bank during the Greek sovereign debt crisis), yet the erosion of the NATO alliance which does force cooperation between the various ethnic states, could lead to unleashing old-fashioned nationalistic tensions, which could therefore be exploited by the Russian Kremlin’s hope of returning to its former glory days, and potentially in-debt now isolated European states to Chinese financing. In theory if NATO fails, so would the European Unions, and thus the European Central Banks, and this would have major consequences on international financing and markets, e.g., if the Euro Dollar were to go away and nations started adopting their own nationalistic currencies, this could not only make currency conversion/trade more problematic but could also pose a risk for smaller nations would suffer currency short selling by speculators.
Yet, what I wrote above is such a microcosm of the various issues that the United States has to juggle, and I would argue that Biden is helping to catch up on certain domestic needs (like roads), but there was hope he would be more ambitious in his vision to not just catch up but to rocket forward, considering he won off the energy of progressive populism who do want green energy, police reform, women’s rights, the rich paying higher taxes to fund society, etc. Progressives don’t want faux progressivism, such as the military or intelligence community keeping things the same but simply adding “woke recruiting campaigns”, but they want material (real world) change.
Yet, Biden (or, even let’s say a Republican in an alternative universe) has a decent excuse to go at the pace he’s going at because with COVID-19 still railing, Biden does have an excuse to sell moderate temperance to the public. So, considering the situation he’s doing decent, but one can say the opposite, e.g., this dire situation should have been a way to redistribute the wealth/debt of the nation to the working classes instead of focusing on hedge funds like BlackRock, etc. COVID-19 revealed many issues such as a lack of affordable housing, the fact that the US minimum wage hasn’t been raised and adjusted to inflation since 2008 despite an increase the money supply, and that offshoring US labor has made the United States too dependent upon volatile global supply chains.
But objectively, Biden isn’t the worst president, nor is he doing a horrific job. He’s just “business as usual”, yet many might appreciate this “business as usual” because people are burnt out of all the social arguments that occurred under the Trump Era. In theory, Trump going Far Right gave Centrist Democrats a good alibi to not push forward, i.e., Democrats are saying “we might be boring, but at least we’re not as terrifying and paranoid as the conservatism that Trump unleashed”.
Biden is returning a sense of peace and calm on the global stage with our very needed allies who buy our weapons – and, yes, I know this is problematic, but it is a fact of life, yet, our allies grant us access to their airspace/ports, and vouch for our debt, e.g., Japan is one of the largest holders of US Treasuries as they attempt to fund their pension system for their elderly population, but Japan is also geo-strategically important in Pacific, creating a triangle with South Korea and Taiwan/The Philippines near the South China Sea versus China.
Even with the Build, Back, Better Act dead in negotiations, I am not personally stressing over BBB, even though it would have been awesome if it passed. A perk to BBB failing is that we can all agree that Manchin, as well as Sinema, can’t be trusted. Biden is exercising a different managerial approach as compared to Trump. Trump used a micro-manager authoritarian approach to managing power often using Executive Orders to circumvent the legislative process, but Biden is using a traditional balance-of-power approach by following the constitution, i.e., relying on the legislative branch to create laws, the judicial branch to review and approve laws, and the executive branch to sign laws after they garner the required votes in Congress. You can judge Biden on this though. If Trump was a strongman leader, then why doesn’t Biden do the same across the board and not just on COVID-19 mitigation? It’s my opinion that Biden doesn’t want to continue the precedent set by Trump as far as authoritarian rule by the Executive Branch, so he’s being “boring” yet constitutional by relying on the other two branch of government. Yet, this is good, but also gives the administration an excuse to go slow, and this slowness doesn’t equate to progress, and gives an alibi to not fulfill campaign promises.
Yet, despite thinking on the negative, I decided to write out what has been accomplished so far. Even with BBB dead in the water as of 2021, it doesn’t mean something akin to it can’t be passed soon or through other bills or strategies, i.e., breaking up BBB and padding other bills with its provisions. The Democrats, who I support aren’t in a bad situation but are in a vulnerable situation considering 2022 Congressional elections especially those in the Senate are on the horizon. Unless the Democrats get a large majority to sure up power, then they’re left with negotiating or developing different strategies to pass progressive policy. In theory, Biden could use ideas that Steve Bannon on behalf of Trump tried to do but in a progressive way. For example, Bannon if my memory is correct (I’m searching for the article that vividly remember seeing) tried to use the Defense Priority Act to subsidize the coal industry and nuclear energy. So, if this idea was floated, then why use it for green energy, i.e., green energy is a national defense priority?
Yet, despite BBB failing, the United States is and isn’t in as dire of situation, yet President Biden has been doing a decent job of keeping the lights on and signing bills that invest in America’s future. Even as a person who sympathizes with Leftism, I could easily be angry at Biden if I wanted, but I’m already such a skeptic that I figure “eh” at least the lights are on, and the Democrats have power to a degree. Anything is better than conservatism. It sucks it comes down to that, but in the face of 3rd Way corporatism (a type of fascism) there’s not much one can hope for since the ruling classes dictate democracy.
President Biden signed the $1.2 Trillion Infrastructure Bill (11/15/2021) into law and is expected to sign the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which passed the Senate on (12/15/2021) which has a price tag of $778 Billion which is a $23.9 Billion top-line increase from the previous NDAA. So, our roads/bridges/ports/airports/levies and military will be funded. I consider that win. Sure, there’s many pacificist and Leftist decrying the Military Industrial Complex, but every nation needs a military where we like it or not (a sad truth of the human species), and even as a Leftist, I do support the military and American primacy. Sure, I know all about the crimes of the CIA and can still call them out and would pray we could figure out better ways of doing diplomacy besides hardcore covert overthrowing government operations, yet, still I support the troops considering most of the troops are of the proletariat. I can support socialism from a Western and American perspective while still detesting Chinese socialism for example.
We are also still living under the $2.2 Trillion CARE Act (3/27/2020) which was supplemented with the $484 Billion PPP (Paycheck Protection Program) & Health Care Enhancement Act (4/24/2020), and the Consolidated Appropriation Act of 2021 at $2.3 Trillion (signed on 12/27/20, which merged $900 Billion with a $1.4 Trillion Omnibus Spending Bill) which were passed under Donald Trump, yet President Biden supplemented these with a $1.9 Trillion American Rescue Plan (3/11/2021). Note: An omnibus spending bill is a type of bill in the United States that packages many of the smaller ordinary appropriations bills into one larger single bill that can be passed with only one vote in each house. There are twelve different ordinary appropriations bills that need to be passed each year (one for each appropriations sub-committee) to fund the federal government and avoid a government shutdown.
= 8,862,000,000,000 in appropriate spending since 3/27/2020, yet, appropriate spending doesn’t mean it will be charged at once, but rather a lot of the money such will be divvied up over fiscal years, and after viewing the National Debt Clock, I’m assuming that all the bills I listed above from the Infrastructure Bill and previous are factored into this national debt number in some way, shape, or form.
Yet, according to National Debt Clock,
$29 Trillion in Debt vs $23 Trillion in GDP vs $4 Trillion in Tax Revenues, and these numbers were pulled on 12/24/21 at 6:25 AM EST, but I’m unsure if the $1.2 Trillion is already factored into this number, but if not then we may be around $30.9 Trillion since the Infrastructure Bill was passed before I checked the Debt Clock. So, roughly we’re at about a $7 Trillion detriment as far as Debt vs GDP, and we’re not nearly paying the amount of money need in taxes at $4 Trillion to really dent the $29 Trillion in debt, or in other words taxes amount to around 13.9% out of the national debt (4/29 * 100). This 13.9% is odd because this means that even though the highest marginal tax rate bracket is 37%, effectively on average, i.e., the average of effective tax rates, is only 13.9%, meaning that someone isn’t pay thing taxes, i.e., even though on paper it says the highest you can pay is 37%, in reality only 13.9% is being paid by all taxpayers (billionaires included), meaning there’s a tax rate detriment of 23.1%. Everyday people, from the lower working classes to the high middle class like a successful business owner might pay the highest 37% rate on all their total earned income, yet, billionaires are likely avoiding so much in taxes that the average of all tax revenue received is 13.9%. If I take the $30.9 Trillion and compare that to the $4 Trillion in taxes raised, it’s even worst at 12.9%.
So, assuming the $8 trillion in bills from the CARE Act to the Infrastructure Bill is factored into the standing $29 Trillion as shown on the Debt Clock, or even assuming they are not thus making the debt 30.9 trillion, the taxes being raised in relation to debt is only 12.9-13.9%, making the tax revenue pulled in fall short of the highest tax rate that can be charged at 37%, thus making a tax revenue detriment in relation to national debt be 23.1-24.1%.
This means that the government is borrowing to cover this spread somehow on top of what it already borrows but is also not effectively taxing those who should be paying at a minimum 37%.
The government has a few options. Better enforcing existing tax laws especially on higher income earners, raising tax rates so you have a better chance of catching tax revenues, and/or revising the tax code. Even if let’s say we add that 23-24% detriment I speak of to the 37% highest tax rate, then we get a 60-61% rate, which interestingly would not be the highest historical marginal tax rate. The harsh truth is…we’ve been slacking on paying taxes collectively in relation to the type of first-world society we live in. We use credit more than taxation. Yet, older generations, whom we consider to be “tougher” actually paid higher taxes and the Golden Era of Democratic Capitalism occurred under higher taxation to pay for society so that future generations wouldn’t incur as much debt, or their money be less valuable. Yet, the Boomer generation once they entered the workforce in the late 70s despite having initially higher taxes, actually ended paying on average lower taxes than their parents and likely even their children who will have to bear the burden of higher taxes (to pay for entitlement programs such as Social Security, Medicare, etc.).
Yet, all this money from these bills…what are the people truly getting from it? The realized impact among the people I would argue is minimal. Sure, some people got COVID relief checks but those checks truly don’t cover the cost of living such as housing or rent, food, gas, education, debt principal or interests, expenses. We’re spending all this money, but the truth is that most is going to large businesses or corporations who win grants, awards, contracts, and direct payments, etc., via contracts by the federal government under the Federal Procurement Data System, Federal Acquisition Regulation, etc.
President Biden has accomplished things by signing legislation into law that gives support to business, individuals, and will help repair/rebuild America’s declining and crumbling infrastructure.
As far as national security, Joe Biden has met with Pacific nations and even snubbed France over a submarine deal between Australia, thus tightening Australia’s bond with the USA via the AUKUS Alliance as China becomes more ambitious regarding Taiwan (a major source of semiconductors), The Belt and Road Project, The South China Sea (the world’s most vital shipping lane), etc. The submarine deal will sell $153 billion and USD $171 billion worth of US military equipment according to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) (NDTV.com., 12/15/21).
Also, within the NDAA there is the I am Venessa Guillen Bill, which will take away the military’s authority to prosecute sexual assault and harassment cases and instead, create an independent investigation separate from the chain of command (Grace White, KHOU-11, 12/22/21).
In addition, despite Blue Lives Matter being a Trump adjacent movement, The Department of Justice under President Biden has announced $139 million in grant funding through the department’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) COPS Hiring Program (CHP). The awards provide direct funding to 183 law enforcement agencies across the nation, allowing those agencies to hire 1,066 additional full-time law enforcement professionals (The Department of Justice, 11/18/21). Further, within the NDAA which is due to be signed soon by President Biden, there still exists the controversial Program 1033 where the military gives surplus military equipment to police agencies. Even, though I support police reform, it is a lie to state that President Biden isn’t funding cops.
Further, according to Annie Nova (2021) of CNBC, “Amid concerns about the new omicron variant of the Covid-19 virus, the Biden administration will extend the payment pause for federal student loan borrowers until May 1.” This extension allows people to stop paying student loan debt without incurring interests.
Biden released 80 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico to auction for drilling, despite him attempting to use an Executive Order to pause drilling, but this pause was blocked in court by 13 oil/natural gas friendly states (Ella Nilsen, CNN, 11/17/21). So, with Biden opening 80 million acres for offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, from a progressive perspective this is horrible and a deviation from his campaign promises to help fight Climate Change and start encouraging higher green energy investing, yet, from a conservative or at least let’s say business perspective, opening offshore drilling could help keep energy prices low, and lower energy prices might help to stave off the inflationary pressures hitting the USA. Lower energy costs is the foundation that affects many aspects of the supply chain such as more affordable utility energy costs which could help divert rising costs for consumers but also commercial entities, cheaper transportation costs, generating revenues for manufacturers of tools and machinery related to the oil and natural gas industry, and maintaining employment. Yet, Biden is likely opening up the oil leases because the truth is that Big Oil and Gas has a lot of influence, so Biden is really trying to garner favor, considering many rich people can fund bad publicity against a President who goes against their business interests.
Biden has also kept Title 42 restrictions relating to immigration and asylum seekers. Biden is using the Trump Area Title 42 loophole that restricts entry into the US on the grounds of preventing the spread of contagious health risks, to keep asylum seekers out of the United States under the Remain in Mexico asylum seeker policy. It’s controversial, yet, it’s interesting that conservatives don’t give Biden much credit for maintaining this nativist Trumpian policy.
Such a policy was brought into further controversy after Haitian refugees fleeing earthquakes, hurricanes, and a government coup, migrated through Mexico and attempted to enter the USA. Border Agents, at this time under the leadership of Biden, used controversial tactics to keep the Haitian immigrants out of the United States. Yet, Biden later started removing restrictions on travel from eight African countries, where these the travel restriction was originally implemented to monitor the Omicron variant of COVID-19. Yet, this move to remove travel restrictions on African countries raises the question as to why the Haitian refugees weren’t allowed to claim asylum which is a right under international law.
But, despite Joe Biden doing things such as supporting the military and bolstering the economy in relation to COVID-19 and its variants, he is falling behind on what he promised to do for those who voted for him. The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act has failed in negotiations as of the fall of 2021, and this bill was introduced twice by Democrats but no success largely due lack of Republican support (zero vote for the second attempt at the reform bill).
There’s also issues such as 800,000+ Americans having died from COVID related illnesses while there is a universe of conspiracy theory and misinformation regarding vaccines; there is a homelessness epidemic largely caused by drug addiction (such as Feytanyl coming from South of the Border)/mental health and workers being priced out of real estate markets such as Seattle, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area; a “Crime Wave” as life normalizes after the initial COVID-19 lock-downs where crime could be traced to the lack of job opportunities/rising cost of living among the working classes; a very hot housing market where foreign investors are unfairly buying multiple homes (if not entire communities) and pricing out first-time homeowners; Roe v. Wade as always is under attack from Republicans; Trans people still lack legal protections over employment, healthcare access, and being protected if incarcerated; there is a threat of domestic terrorism such as by White Supremacy Extremists (WSEs); outstanding student loan debt in the U.S. has surpassed $1.7 trillion and burdens Americans more than credit card and auto debt (Nova, 2021, CNBC), and generally, there is lack of trust in institutions including the media.
Yet, from all this spending, where the money isn’t truly reaching the working classes, despite whatever sort of COVID stimulus checks or PPP Loans that individuals, families, and small-to-medium size businesses have received. The sheer amount of money spent so far since COVID started around March 2020 is…insane, and it could be argued that it is just another form of “trickle down” corporatism, rather that direct social investments in the people. It’s as if the government spends money just to say to the working classes that “we can’t afford this now”. The Buy Back Better Bill was intended to be a way for the people to get a cut of all this debt creations and deficit spending. It is disheartening that the American public will foot the bill for all this spending, yet, not really get a direct “in their pocket” benefit, granted the NDAA does stimulate employment across the thousands of contractors supporting the defense industry in the web we call the Military Industrial Complex, paying soldiers, and the Infrastructure Bill will help create employment with construction jobs, engineering projects, and improving roads/bridges/ports that naturally stimulate economies.
Revising policies and forms, such as AF Form 2030 Drug and Alcohol Abuse Certificates (or equal) and Standard Form 86 Background Investigation Questionnaire (or equal), relating to questions about cannabis use asked by the federal government (notably the Department of Defense, Office of Personnel Management, etc.) and its contractors.
Providing supporting arguments for how cannabis revenues are a force-multiplier that supports National Security.
Uncovering possible racial disparity in grants of Security Clearances.
Short Title: Revising forms relating to questions involving cannabis and how cannabis is a force-multiplier for National Security
Contractor in this letter is meant to be any business, corporation, self-proprietor, etc., who has received federal funds, thus creating a legal contract between contractor and government, to perform work, services, construction, and/or to provide equipment or materials to the Federal Government, and/or any business, corporation, self-proprietor, etc., who is a part of the Federal Procurement Data Systems (FPDS) and/or registered or having been registered in systems such as the Systems for Award Management (SAM.gov), Central Contractor Registration (CCR), Online Representations and Certification Application (ORCA), etc.
Marijuana or Cannabis (genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae) used throughout this letter are meant to be interchangeable but also include any other word or variant of Marijuana such as Cannabis Indica, Cannabis Salvia, CBD (Cannabidiol), Pot, Hemp, Hash, Hashish, Kief, Keef, Ganja, etc.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Definitions 1
Images & Figures 1
Keywords 1
Methodology 1
Abstract & Highlights 2
Forward 4
Introduction 4
Disclaimer 5
Purpose 5
Section I – Revising Forms and Policies Relating to Marijuana Questions, etc. 5
Section II – The State Argument, Increases in Cannabis Lobbying, Decreases in Prison Lobbying 10
Section III – Our Canadian Allies 12
Section IV – Veteran Support of Cannabis 13
Section V – Current Pro-Cannabis Legislation & Section 528 of the NDAA FY20 14
Section VI – Other Supporting Arguments (the right to not Self-Incriminate) 16
Section VII – Possible hypocrisies Section 16
Section VIII – Cannabis a Force Multiplier, National Guard Argument 19
Section IX – Welfare Argument 24
Section X – Ideas and Arguments Continued 24
24 Section XI – Race and Civil Rights 26
Images & Figures:
Figure 1 – AF Form 2030 Section II Question Relating to Marijuana ………………………. p. 6
Figure 2 – SF 86 Section 23 Question Relating to Marijuana……………………… …………p. 8
Figure 3 – Center for Responsive Politics estimates of Pro-Cannabis Lobbying Funds….…. p. 11
Figure 4 – Section 528 of the National Defense Reauthorization Act……………………….. p. 15
Figure 5 – Washington State’s Liquor and Cannabis Board Annual Fiscal Report (2019) ….. p. 21
Methodology: This paper uses a qualitative approach of searching various online sources for supporting facts, but also utilizes quantitative data pulled from publications, reports, etc.
Abstract & Highlights:
There is no value added in asking for use of marijuana not attached to criminal convictions such as on AF Force Form 2030 Drug and Alcohol Abuse Certificates (or equal across the Service Branches), relating to entry or re-entry into the Armed Services, seeking employment with a federal contractor (such as those attached to the Department of Defense), or when a recruit/employee/potential employee either of the federal government or a federal contractor is seeking a Security Clearance (Standard Form 86).
There might exist a disparity regarding rejection of Security Clearances between minorities and white federal employees, contractors, and military service members, relating to criminally charged marijuana offenses or admission of marijuana use not attached to criminal charges. White Americans report a higher lifetime use of marijuana, but black people make up a higher percentage of arrests cases (ACLU, 2020) and this disparity can lead to rejection of security clearances/loss of employment/rejection of employment, thus resulting in lower levels of minority representation, which thus violates the vision of the Civil Rights Act despite many states finding marijuana to be a commodity with economic, medicinal, and therapeutic properties. My claim is supported by a Department of the Air Force Inspector General (DAF IG) Report (December 2020), titled: Report of Inquiry (S8918P) -Independent Racial Disparity Review (No. S8918P).
Pro-Marijuana Lobbying Funding saw an estimated increase of 16,357.1% from 2011 to 2020, meaning supporting Pro-Marijuana policies is great for re-election campaigns.
According to Pew Research, Americans favor cannabis legalization at 67% (Daniller, 2019).
In states where marijuana is legal and taxed, these marijuana taxes might be funding the Total Force Structure of the United States military, thus making marijuana revenues a force multiplier for National Security, such as construction/infrastructure projects funded by state-accounts or social programs (e.g., educational programs which produce component recruits or officers, facilities used by Active Duty Troops utilizing Tuition Assistance, or educational facilities which house Reserve Officer Training Corps, i.e., ROTC units), which directly & indirectly supports the overall Department of Defense. State National Guard Units are de-facto a part of the federal military due to the Montgomery Amendment, because of Perpich v. Department of Defense, 496 U.S. 334 (1990). Taxation of state legal cannabis is having a positive economic and social effect on the military despite the military’s antiquated stance on marijuana.
Marijuana offers the potential to be a positive external variable towards force multiplication that can help pay for military equipment, etc., where force multiplication is defined in Joint Publication (JP) 3-05.1 (published 26 April 2007) as a capability that, when added to and employed by a combat force, significantly increases the combat potential of that force, and thus enhances the probability of successful mission accomplishment (p. 394).
US States such as Washington State collected a total of $395.5 million in legal marijuana income and license fees in fiscal year 2019 up from 2018 numbers (Washington State Treasury, 2020). California has possibly generated $1 Billion since January 2018 (Staggs, 2020). Wall Street analysts estimate cannabis could become an $85 billion industry by 2030 (Business Insider Prime, 2020).
When thinking about aircraft for example when compared to Washington State’s 2019 fiscal year cannabis revenues of $395.5 million.
The F-35A by Lockheed Martin – the most common variant of the weapon system – has/will have a cost of $82.4 million in 2020, $79.17 million in 2021 and $77.9 million in 2022 (Stone, 2019). Dividing WA State Marijuana Revenues by the F-35A cost, we get 4.79 aircraft (FY20), 4.89 aircraft (FY21), and 5.07 aircraft (FY22). In other words, 4 aircraft with $65.1 Million remaining FY20 (.79 or 79% of 1 aircraft cost is the remaining value), 4 aircraft with $73.36 Million remaining in FY21 (.89 or 89% of 1 aircraft cost is the remaining value), 5 aircraft with $5.54 Million remaining in FY22 (.07 or 7% 1 aircraft cost is the remaining value). That is 13 theoretical F-35A aircraft, or (1) F-35A squadron (12 aircraft is a squadron) plus one funded by marijuana tax revenues. Total residual (remaining) balance across the three fiscal years is $144 Million ($48 Million per year), which can lead to additional aircraft purchases, spare part Purchase Orders, sustainment contracts, calibration/maintenance, fueling, training, etc. Granted this is theoretical since most of the marijuana tax revenues goes to education, public health, law enforcement (ironic), etc. However, it is possible that marijuana tax revenue can support the military mission, particularly with Federal Fiscal concerns relating to the debt ceiling, risk of sequestration (government shutdowns, compensation payments to contractors), etc. Essentially the states raising revenue from marijuana for the public good is a cost savings to the Federal government since the states might ask for less money from agencies such as the Department of Education, Health and Human Services, Department of Justice, the Department of Defense, etc.
Interestingly, according to Losey (2020) of the Air Force Times, the State of Oregon where marijuana is fully legal, two bases in Oregon — Kingsley Field and Portland Air National Guard Base — will be among the first to host the F-15EX, the updated and upgraded version of the Strike Eagle now under production. Losey (2020) also states that Jacksonville Air National Guard Base in Florida will receive the F-35A in 2024, the guard said in an Aug. 14 release (end quote). Florida has decriminalized marijuana for medicinal purposes.
There is no substantial evidence that use of marijuana makes it harder for military recruits or people wishing re-entry into the Armed Forces from learning their job specialty, nor is there any evidence proving that use of marijuana not connected with criminal charges or connected with criminal charges possess a security risk, since moderate or casual alcohol use has no proof of increasing security risks. Troops are tested at MEPs, randomly tested while serving, and in lockdown during Basic Military Training.
Waivers for Marijuana use not attached to criminal convictions should not be needed and the requirement for waivers connected to criminal charges tied to marijuana use, should be loosened, especially if a member with charges was charged in a state where marijuana is now legal.
Many states including our largest states have legal marijuana, and these states hold strong Electoral College and Popular Vote power.
Forward: I understand that making bills is not an easy task, but the idea which I am presenting and arguing for in this letter/paper, I feel should follow the strategy of the successful passage of Section 528 within the current year National Defense Authorization Act (in which I feel Section 528 does not do enough but it is a great step in the right direction). I understand that bills must be drafted, be recommended to committees, may require Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimates, be voted for upon the floor, and then be passed by the United Senates before signature by the President (although, if he or she doesn’t sign within 10 days of receipt and Congress does not “sine die”, i.e., for good, adjourn prior to the 10-day limit, the bill becomes law, alleviating the “pocket veto” scenario, i.e., the bill was on his or her desk, while Congress was open, thus the bill becomes law after 10 days). However, I do know that certain sections of laws do not seem to require as much groundwork to be inserted into legislation.
Also, with soon-to-be out of office, President Donald J. Trump, vetoing the upcoming NDAA, this might be a convenient time to insert my idea. If not, my idea could also influence an Executive Order of the upcoming Biden Harris Administration while the legislative process works itself out. Yet, with the Supreme Court majority conservative, the time to act is now. Yet, I think I have a good idea and make decent arguments. For example, marijuana is a cash commodity that helps states generate tax revenues which goes to public works, education, law enforcement, etc., and in direct and indirect ways, legal marijuana tax revenues are supporting the Total Force Structure of the US Department of Defense (Federal Force, State National Guard, etc.). Further, since our laws create disparity among the races and ethnicities of the United States, I feel that the current federal criminalization of marijuana has led to increased administrative burdens since waivers are required for military entry/re-entry, but also possible disparities in the granting of Security Clearances.
Disclaimer: I respect you. I respect our country. I respect authority. I respect the military. Yet, I also consider myself a Progressive. I am a Progressive Veteran and Patriot. I support unwavering defense for the USA and its allies, but I believe in progressive social policy, inclusion, diversity, and welfare that enables people to have a fair shot. So, nothing in this is letter/paper is intended to be perceived as a personal attack to you at all.
Purpose: I am writing you this letter to offer what I consider is a good idea which should be easy to pass until more legislation on progressive policies on marijuana are passed or an Executive Order reflecting pro-marijuana policies is signed by the President. My idea is inspired to (A) continue to support our Government and its Armed Forces (and its prime contractors) by ensuring we have a large selection pool of diverse people with a “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy concerning marijuana use not attached to criminal convictions for new recruits, members who wish to seek re-entry to the Armed forces, or external/internal applicants of federal contractors, thus not requiring waivers and not requiring admissions of use not attached to criminal charges on Federal Background Checks, (B) to reform recruiting/hiring policies relating to marijuana use not attached to criminal charges, (C) to show how marijuana tax revenues are a force multiplier that helps National Defense and Security, and (D) to hopefully raise the current minimum in Section 528 of the current NDAA so that more than one criminal charge for marijuana use isn’t a disqualifier for entry or re-entry into the Armed Services.
Section I – Revising Forms and Policies Relating to Marijuana Questions on the SF86, etc. I feel that Congress should pass an amendment or bill, or, the Executive Branch should sign an Executive Order until legislation is signed (or bring back Coles Memo of the Obama Administration with new caveats based on points I am presenting), which will revise military forms, e.g., Air Force Form 2030 Drug and Alcohol Abuse Certificate (and any equivalent forms among military Sister Branches, including the United States Coast Guard which falls under Homeland Security, the U.S Merchant Marines under the Department of the Navy & Department of Transportation, etc.); revise questionnaires regarding questions asking about marijuana use not attached to criminal convictions; revise recruiting questions regarding marijuana use not attached to criminal convictions that are given either verbally, electronically, and/or written either by contractors working for recruiters, i.e., call center personnel, or actual recruiters/volunteer recruiters of the Armed Services, and revise questions asked on SF86 Background Investigation Questionnaires OMB No. 32006 0005 (or equal), so that only criminal convictions relating to marijuana is asked rather than the current policy of simply asking for “use”.
Figure 1 – AF Form 2030 Section II Question Relating to Marijuana
As you can see above in AF Form 2030, AF Drug and Alcohol Abuse Certificate, Section II, the question asks for “use not attached to criminal charges”, but instead states, “have you ever used or experimented with marijuana?”, yet, it has a caveat stating, “prior marijuana use is not a disqualifying for enlistment or appointment, unless you are determined to be a chronic user or psychologically dependent….”, and further it states, “Preservice marijuana use may render you ineligible for certain skills.”.
The question should be revised to only state, “Do you have any criminal convictions related to marijuana, please do not state use not attached to documented criminal charges.”, and there should be special instructions for recruits who are from/have lived in States or municipalities where marijuana is legal and/or decriminalized.
Further, it states a person can be disqualified if determined to be a chronic user or psychologically dependent, which to me seems subjective, because how the Air Force determines this is not stated in the form; studies to determine if marijuana is an addictive substance that is somehow worst than legal Schedule II or III drugs are debatable or non-existent due to federal restrictions on further studies; many States have legalized marijuana for medicinal and recreational purposes (some of our largest states as far as population, Electoral College Power, economic output, etc.), and most Americans favor cannabis legalization at 67% (Daniller, 2019) meaning the general public deems marijuana to be acceptable.
Further, the statement “Preservice marijuana use may render your ineligible for certain skills”, is an “interesting” statement to put into the form. This question seems to dissuade recruits and seems to state that the Department of Defense is not entirely confident in its abilities to reshape and reform individuals who come from diverse backgrounds, unique life situations, etc. Even if there are limited peer-reviewed studies relating to the effects of chronic marijuana use which might insinuate fractions of a percentage loss in IQ levels, the thing is that the military requires aptitude testing prior to even going to MEPS (Medical Examination Processing Stations) and Basic Training such as the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB), Officer Aptitude Rating Test (OAR Test) of the US Marine Corps, US Navy, and United States Coast Guard, or the AFOQT (Air Force Officer Qualification Test). Thus, cannabis use – not attached to criminal charges or attached to charges – cannot realistically be used to disqualify a person from a certain job specialty when the military gauges mental competency with the ASVAB (or equivalent), and even if the military were to make the argument that cannabis has long-term detrimental cognitive side-effects, the Federal Government has limited the possibilities of expanded research, and the same arguments could be made for environment, educational funding, poverty, income level, etc. Yet, we rightfully do not disqualify candidates because of economic origins, income levels, if they were born in an area with underfunded schools, etc.
When a recruit attends Basic Military Training (BMT), Basic Combat Training (BCT), Officer Candidate School (OCS), Officer Training School (OTS), or equivalent, recruits are often not learning any skills related to their future job skill or specialty. Rather, they are undergoing intensive physical training and learning basic military culture and protocol.
According to Military.com (2019), the timespans of military trainings are 9 weeks (2 months and 1 week) for the US Army, 10 weeks for the US Air Force (it was 8 weeks but an additional 2 weeks were added on), the US Navy is 8 Weeks (technically 7 weeks but it includes an additional week, typically referred to in military culture as Zero Week), the US Marine Corps is 12 Weeks (3 months, not including 4-days of in-processing time), and the US Coast Guard is 7.5 Weeks (a little less than 2 months).
These training times do not include the date a recruit or candidate seeking entry goes to MEPS (Military Examination Processing Station) and travels to Basic Military Training (or equal), etc. So, for 2-months to 3-months, plus the time from MEPS to Training, the recruit is not learning a skill attached to their MOS (Military Occupational Specialty Code) for the US Army and US Marine Corps, AFSC (Air Force Specialty Code) for the United States Air Force or Space Force, or Job Category as Listed in Rating Systems in the case of the US Navy or US Coast Guard.
Basic Military Training (or equal) is effectively a time for rehabilitation and to insinuate that use of marijuana not attached to criminal charges or even attached to criminal charges, especially when recruits are tested for aptitude prior to going to Basic Training, will somehow make a recruit ineligible for a skill is debatable, and it is on the Service Branches to justify with evidence and proof of such a claim. The statement provided in the AF Form 2030 (or equal) seems highly subjective, judgmental, biased, and grandfathered into the present day. For example, the stigma around marijuana is being dictated by older people in higher ranks, e.g., roughly 30% in 1989 supported legal cannabis versus 67% support for legal cannabis in 2019 (Daniller, 2019), in which marijuana was demonized or turned into a drug of caricature, i.e., Cheech and Chong culture, Dazed and Confused imagery, etc. Further, there could possibly be a sense of generational disdain or envy considering older generations who typically see younger generations as “weaker”, might simply be barring access to entry because of their own personal beliefs/experiences which are not backed by science, facts, and the current political realities of the day, but rather propaganda attached to political agendas. While in BMT, I can attest that I did not drink caffeine (which is a stimulant with addictive properties, and is a Schedule III drug that is common for workers, troops, etc., to assist with job performance, studying, etc.), had little to no sugar (no Gatorade, juice, etc.), was forbade from tobacco, etc. BMT was a total mind and body restructuring, so to assume that previous marijuana use either attached or not attached to criminal charges, somehow makes a person ineligible for entry and unable to learn a job specialty is highly debatable. Our Canadian allies permit marijuana use with pilots included (Burns, 2018). I am not saying that US troops should be smoking marijuana (until policy can change after laws are reformed), but forms such as the AF Form 2030 Drug and Alcohol Abuse Certificate need to be reformed based on the logic I am presenting.
Figure 2 – SF 86 Section 23 Question Relating to Marijuana for Federal Background Checks
Above you can see the question within the Standard Form 86 (SF86) which is the Federal Background Check or Investigation Questionnaire, which can be found online at (https://nbib.opm.gov/e-qip-background-investigations/) and this form is used for granting Security Clearances. Since marijuana (cannabis) is legal and/or decriminalized in many states, cities, municipalities, and even allied nations to the United States, asking for “use not attached to criminal charges” has no value.
For example, what about Canadian troops (our allies going back as far as the World Wars in which Canada under Major General Rod Keller bravely sacrificed themselves at Juno Beach to achieve Allied objectives at Normandy) who are currently permitted to use marijuana (which is good policy in my opinion), happened to work on a Joint Force effort with the United States, but they require a Security Clearances and Canada defends the sovereign rights of its own citizens?
Regardless, what is one really gaining from knowing a person has used marijuana, especially when it is not attached to criminal charges? Criminally charged use of marijuana might help make better Security Clearance determinations, for any array of reasons (which in themselves could be argued as debatable), because it could insinuate a problem with law enforcement or criminal activity with a gang (which in many communities people are forced to be in as a means of surviving), but if there is no recorded criminal use for marijuana, which restated is legal in many places (some of the most economically powerful places in the United States who also have strong military/federal presences), then this question has no value. I can understand keeping the other drugs on the questionnaire (until policy reform occurs), yet, for marijuana which is helping to fund the public good (education, infrastructure, law enforcement, etc.), it is time to reform or remove this question. There is no proof to my knowledge of someone smoking marijuana becoming a security risk, no different than legal alcohol used moderately as not posing a risk. A Myers-Briggs personality test might have better insight as to whether a person “will spill the beans”, rather than asking for use of a substance that many states find to be acceptable.
Powell (2020) of the Harvard Gazette interviewed Kevin Hill, associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and director of the Division of Addiction Psychiatry at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and regarding marijuana (cannabis), he stated, “It’s less addictive than alcohol, less addictive than opioids, but just because it’s less addictive doesn’t mean that it’s not addictive.” Further. Dr. Hill in the Powell (2020) interview in the Harvard Gazette stated, “Schedule 1 really means two things. Number one, does it have addictive potential? Cannabis does, clearly. But it also means that there is no medical value. I think you are hard-pressed at this point to say that cannabis and cannabinoids have no medical value. So, I do not think it should be a Schedule 1 substance and changing that really would make it a lot easier to study. Funding is a bigger barrier.”
Further, a question asking for marijuana use not attached to criminal charges, especially when many states – some of our most economically dynamic states and largest as far as population – deem marijuana to be legal and socially acceptable, when the Department of Defense, Office of Personnel Management, etc., asks a person about use not attached to criminal charges, yet, makes determinations about a person which insinuates they are possibly a criminal, this seems a violation of Constitutional Rights of a person. The Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution allows people to not self-incriminate themselves and further parts of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) has similar protections, so asking for use of marijuana not attached to criminal charges, especially when a person who is seeking entry into the military (when they will be tested anyways at MEPs and randomly and/or routinely while in service), re-entry into the military, or seeking employment with a federal contractor (especially if the position requires a Security Clearance), seems a casual violation of a person’s privacy and their ability to not self-incriminate under The United States Constitution. I repeat this is only for marijuana because the many of the States have expressed legality of the drug.
I am only saying marijuana largely since as a nation founded on federalism (a balance between centralized and decentralized authorities, i.e., the Federal Government and States), which is a reason why we have Representatives and Senators, marijuana is fully legal (decriminalized) in more than a dozen states and growing. Currently only six (6) states have marijuana as fully illegal (criminalized), i.e., only 12% of the States. According to DISA Global Solutions (2020), fifteen (15) states (and the District of Columbia where our laws are created & the where the Pentagon is housed) have full decriminalization for recreational and medicinal use (end quote). Guam and the Northern Marina Islands also have full legalization for recreational use. Additionally, out of these 15 states, California has 55 Electoral College votes, New York has 29 Electoral College Votes, Illinois has 20 Electoral College Votes, Michigan has 16 Electoral College Votes, and states such as Nevada and Arizona helped to swing the 2020 Presidential Election, insinuating the momentum for marijuana legalization is gaining more traction.
Even the states with mixed approaches such as Pennsylvania (20 Electoral College Votes) and even the conservative-leaning state of Georgia (16 Electoral College Votes. Note: The City of Atlanta decriminalized under one ounce of cannabis, Source: Hawkins Spizman Trial Lawyers, n.d.) are playing a major role in current 2020 politics, with Georgia going so far as resulting in two Congressional Senate Run-Off elections, meaning in the case of The State of Georgia (an agricultural state), that voting for conservative anti-marijuana politicians is no longer a given, i.e., times are changing. Many of these states are the largest economies of our nation and they hold most of the electoral college votes and provide the bulk of the popular vote due to population, e.g., California (39,512,223 people est.), Florida (21,477,737 people est.), New York (19,453,561 people est.), Illinois (12,671,821 people est.), etc. Thus, the politicians who support marijuana reform, have a higher chance of re-election for a multitude of reasons.
In 2011 according to the Center for Responsive Politics (2020), pro-cannabis lobbying was only a marginal $35,000.00 USD but in 2020 it was estimated the total of pro-cannabis lobbying investments increased to $5,760,000.00 USD, which is a 16,357.1% increase. When compared to lobbying funds for controversial private prisons, according to Center for Responsive Politics (2020), in 2019 total spend was estimated at $4.3 Million and $3.2 Million in 2020. CoreCivic Group contributed $1,310,000.00, GEO Group contributed $1,100,000 etc., to politicians for private prisons (Center for Responsive Politics, 2020). In these Center for Responsive Politics (2020) findings, 19 out of 20 reported politicians (Donald Trump included as well as Georgia Senator David Perdue who is facing a Senate run-off election race) accepted funds from private prisons. 19 politicians were Republicans with only 1 being Democrat (from the State of Texas).
Figure 3 – Center for Responsive Politics estimates of Pro-Cannabis Lobbying Funds
Despite the unfortunate existence of private prisons, the 2020 estimated lobbying donations for this industry amount to $3.2 Million which is 44% less than the $5.76 Million that went to the cannabis industry in 2020. This means that it is less lucrative to take money from an industry (prisons) which tries to further enrich itself by arresting/fining people (resulting in loss of employment, displacement, increased risks of disease and STD transmission, strain on single parents, and inflated costs in poorly audited and administered contracts), than it is to support a growing industry of marijuana which produces jobs, taxes, reduces black market crime, etc. Supporting marijuana is pragmatic, progressive and realist politics.
My idea can be quite simple to do and have bipartisan support, e.g., leveraging Republican support from former House Speaker and House Minority Leader John Boehner, who currently is chair of the National Cannabis Roundtable, an organization which spent $428,000 on pro-cannabis lobbying efforts in Fiscal Year 2020 (Center for Responsive Politics, 2020.). Also, there is former Republican Governor of Massachusetts Bill Weld who sits on Acreage Holding’s board with John Boehner which is a marijuana investment company which has helped create jobs in Flint, Michigan, according to Breana Noble, Detroit Times (2018). Current Republicans in Congress who supported cannabis legalization are Matt Gaetz (Fla.) — the only GOP co-sponsor on the MORE Act —, Denver Riggleman (Va.) who stated he voted for it because his brother was jailed for a marijuana offense, Don Young (Alaska), Tom McClintock (Calif.) and Brian Mast (Fla.) according to Julie-Grace Brufke (2020) of The Hill. There are also more Republicans as well (see page 17, para 2).
Further, our neighbor to the North in Canada, which is a NATO (North American Treaty Organization), NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command), Five Eyes Partner (intelligence gathering) and AFNORTH/USNORTHCOM member, has full legalization of cannabis across the board and Canadian cannabis firms can be sold on stock exchanges such as Toronto Stock Exchange (which can be sold legally in the United States on exchanges such as E-Trade, owned by Morgan Stanley, by way of the Over-the-Counter Market). On October 17, 2018, Canada passed Bill C-45, which made recreational use of marijuana (cannabis) totally legal (Kestler-D’Amours, 2018). Relating to passage of Canada’s Bill C-45, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau established a Task Force to pave the way for cannabis legalization and used US States such as Colorado and Washington State as a model (Kestler-D’Amours, 2018).
Think about that, Canada, our military ally, a member of the prestigious NATO Alliance, legalized weed by basing their policy on Washington State and Colorado’s pro-cannabis policies, and these US States have a strong military presence ranging from Joint Base Fort Lewis – McChord (JBLM); Camp Murray National Guard Center; Fairchild Air Force Base; Everett Naval Base; Naval Air Station Whidbey Island; Bremerton Naval Base and Submarine Base; the Western Air Defense Sector (WADS); Fort Carson; Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station; Peterson Air Force Base (Home to the US Space Command, i.e., the predecessor of the newly created United States Space Force); Schriever Air Force Base and Buckley Air Force Base.
Relating to Peterson-Schriever Garrison (P-S GAR) in Colorado (where cannabis is legal), the United States Space Command (formerly the United States Air Force Space Command) operates Geographically Separated Units (GSUs) such as New Boston Air (Space) Force Station in New Hampshire (where cannabis is decriminalized); Cape Code Air (Space) Force Station (where in Massachusetts, cannabis is fully legal for both recreational and medicinal purposes); Kaena Point Air (Space) Force Station (where in Hawaii marijuana is decriminalized in a mixed approach); Clear Air (Space) Force Station (where in Alaska, marijuana is fully decriminalized) [Clear Air Force (Space) Station also houses Royal Canadian Air Force Units, where Canadian forces are legally allowed to use marijuana], and Cavalier Air (Space) Force Station (where in North Dakota, cannabis is decriminalized and able to be used for medicinal purposes), etc.
Burns (2018) wrote an article about how the Government of Canada (or, Gouvernement du Canada in French) issued a directive, Defence (the British/Canadian spelling) Administrative Orders and Directives (DAOD) – 9000, which permits Canadian military service members to use marijuana, i.e., cannabis. Under the new policy, members of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) will be prohibited from using recreational cannabis within eight hours of a duty shift, and within 24 hours of work that involves operating weapons or vehicles (Burns, 2018). Cannabis use will additionally be barred within 28 days of duty that includes service on a military aircraft, operation in a hyperbaric environment, or high-altitude parachuting (Burns, 2018). Somewhat understandably, service members will not be allowed to use recreational cannabis during work hours or carry it with them on international operations, either (Burns, 2018). Effectively, Canadian troops are safely allowed to use marijuana within the time stipulations listed above but most likely in the safe zone while on leave or Rest and Relaxation (R&R), so they do not violate the time minimums listed above.
According to the Veterans Cannabis Project (n.d.), 34 States Allow Medical Marijuana, 83% of Veterans support Medical Marijuana Programs, yet 0% of Veteran Administration facilities provide medical cannabis (though HR712 or the separate MORE Act might and should correct this fact).
Further, According to DiGiovanni (2018) decorated veterans are supporting the legalization of marijuana efforts such as retired Lieutenant Colonel Todd Scattini, i.e., The Hemp Colonel, who is a United States West Point Academy graduate, and is the current CEO of Harvest 360 and the European representative of CW Hemp. According to the article by the DiGiovanni (2018) on the Veterans Cannabis Project’s website, Scattini served in combat arms roles, including Tank & Scout platoon leader and Cavalry troop commander. His language skills and passion for foreign service led to positions overseas, including at the US Embassies in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Slovenia (DiGiovanni, 2018). But it was his assignment in 2011, as a senior advisor to the commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, that opened his eyes to the both the opportunity of hemp and the healing power of medical cannabis (DiGiovanni, 2018).
Current pro-cannabis legalization laws of recent that I have read into are the SAFE Banking Act (S. 1200), sponsored by Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon), which strives to improve safety for cannabis businesses, employees, and consumers by prohibiting a federal banking regulator from penalizing a depository institution for providing banking services to a legitimate marijuana-related business (Status: Senate – 04/11/2019 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs); Small Business Tax Equity Act (H.R.1118 & S.422), sponsored by Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) which would allow compliant, tax-paying cannabis businesses to deduct normal business expenses and access tax credits that are available to other lawful businesses (Status: Senate – 02/07/2019 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance); Marijuana Justice Act(S. 597 & H.R. 1456), sponsored by Representative Barbara Lee (D-California-13th District) strives to remove marijuana from the list of controlled substances and expunging the convictions of those who have served federal time for marijuana use and possession offenses (Status: House – 04/08/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security); Realizing Equitable & Sustainable Participation in Emerging Cannabis Trades (RESPECT) Resolution (H.Res.163), sponsored by Representative Barbara Lee (D-California-13th District), offers best practices and recommended steps for states and localities to reduce financial barriers to entry relating to cannabis businesses, eliminate constrained licensing frameworks that perpetuate disadvantages relating to cannabis businesses, encourages automated expungement and resentencing for prior cannabis offenses (Status: House – 03/25/2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security); Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act(H.R. 3884. S. 2227), sponsored by Representative Jerrold Nadler (D-NY-10th District), is bipartisan legislation that removes marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act, thus decriminalizing the substance at the federal level and enabling states to set their own policies (Status: Senate – 12/07/2020 Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance), and HR712 VA (Veterans Administration) Medicinal Cannabis Research Act of 2019, sponsored by Representative Luis J. Correa (D-CA-46th District) which would direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a clinical trial of the effects of cannabis on certain health outcomes of adults with chronic pain and post-traumatic stress disorder, and for other purposes (Status: House – 03/12/2020 Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by Voice Vote).
Relating to H.R. 712, the Congressional Budget Office as ordered by the House Committee on Veteran Affairs on March 12, 2020 (The United States Congress, n.d.), issued a Cost Estimate by Ann E. Futrell on April 13, 2020. On February 1, 2019, VA began a 5-year research study at its medical center in San Diego, California, to evaluate effects of the use of medical cannabis among 136 participants with PTSD and other health conditions (Futrell, 2020). The department plans to spend $1 million to conduct the study (Futrell, 2020). CBO expects that trial would satisfy the bill’s requirement for research. Satisfying the reporting requirement would cost less than $500,000 over the 2020-2025 period, CBO estimates (Futrell, 2020). That spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds (Futrell, 2020). Ms. Futrell’s Cost Estimate was reviewed by Leo Lex, Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.
Further, we have 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Sec. 528. Reenlistment waivers for persons separated from the Armed Forces who commit one misdemeanor cannabis offense. This is a step in the right direction, but it does not go far enough, yet, what I am arguing in this paper is for the federal government (and its contractors) to not ask about use not attached to federal charges, but also, the minimum threshold as specified in Section 528 must be raised considering the relationship of states to the federal government.
Figure 4 – Section 528 of the National Defense Reauthorization Act
Section 528 which was helped passed by House Representative Ruben Gallego of Arizona’s 7th Congressional District (a US Marine Corps veteran who served in Iraq) is great and a proper step forward, yet I feel it doesn’t go far enough (e.g., a misdemeanor can be very marginal), because the military (and its contractors where workers often have to do SF 86 Background Investigation Questionnaires) are still asking if new recruits, former military members who wish to rejoin, or applicants for employment with federal contracts, if they have used marijuana even if it is not attached to any criminal conviction. It seems the military’s forms such AF Form 2030 or equal (and Standard Form 86 or any other agency equivalent) are still asking these statements to new recruits/members who seek re-entry, employees of federal contractors. Regarding, the military it is still requiring waivers (or possible rejections of clearances relating to contractors or troops).
Based on my ideas and evidence presented so far, the military/federal government should not be asking for marijuana use that is not attached to criminal charges, largely (but not limited to the fact) that Section 528 of the FY20 NDAA, it only speaks to convictions by a court of a competent jurisdiction. Considering that the Office of Personnel Management via its e-QIP System which does background checks for the government and its contractors, I feel the question on the SF 86 relating to marijuana use not relating to criminally convicted charges in courts of competent jurisdiction should be removed from the questionnaire since its relevance is waning. Further, people who do have criminal convictions relating to marijuana such a possession should not fear having a clearance revoked.
There does not seem to be coherent and publicly published logic that is readily available to the public and published in a way which is palpable for the general public to understand that details how the OPM or equivalent makes it security clearance determinations, thus preventing the person who may have had their clearances revoked or employment terminated, from having all the cognizant facts to utilize their constitutional right to challenge such determinations, e.g., obtain legal representation, appeal, etc.
Further, since the vast array of questions on Background Checks can incidentally lead to subjective determinations, many good people have possibly suffered simply because of human bias which is not an exceptional look for the Federal Government; however, I am sure investigators do their jobs to the best of their abilities. For example, if a highly paid non-elected GS Civil Servant has had three DUIs, missed alimony payments, has domestic dispute charges, has had frequent travel outside of the United States, and has a higher debt-to-asset ratio (insinuating higher risk of financial default, i.e., bankruptcy), but they get to keep their job and/or get a Security Clearance. Why should a person, such as a recently college graduate, person who has been seeking employment, person from an underrepresented group and/or low-income area, or your average worker have to admit use of marijuana use not attached to criminal charges, when stating use not attached to criminal convictions, could possibly result in getting a Security Clearance revoked, which could mean loss of employment, having to seek another internal opportunity, increased unemployment insurance registration, destitution, falling behind on bills, etc.?
That is why the SF86 must be reformed. SF86 questions relating to marijuana should be changed to only ask about cannabis use for convicted charges, yet, convicted charges should not be a barrier to employment or gaining a clearance, due to 1) the general shift of perception within the public that supports legalization of cannabis, 2) there is no proof that marijuana/cannabis use leads to any sort of Security Breaches, 3) many States where it is legal have a strong federal employment and military presence, etc.I am not saying the Federal Agencies including the Department of Defense or its contractors cannot test for marijuana (until policy shifts), but rather asking for use not attached to criminal charges does not provide any value.
To reiterate, my idea is that the Department of Defense, Office of Personnel Management (who manages the SF86 Screening Process), or any other agency, or contractor to the federal government, can only ask for use for marijuana related to criminal offenses, and not just “use”. Further, recruiters, contractors who work with recruiters (such as call center staff), and the Human Resource Departments of federal contractors should be educated that they legally can only ask for criminally charged marijuana convictions and not simple use, and any statement made voluntarily of use, either in the past or present, that is not attached to a criminal conviction cannot be used against a military recruit, person who wishes to re-enter the military, or applicant to the federal government or its contractors. Further, if a person has had their record cleared, sometimes charges can still show up on background checks and such charges should not be asked for either.
Once a law, amendment to a law (or revision that expands upon Section 528), or Executive Order based on my idea is approved, I also feel it should be retroactively applied to anyone who was rejected for entry or re-entry into the military (or disqualified for a Security Clearance), or disbarred from employment either as federal civil servant or contractor, so when they try again, they do not have to say anything about use not attached to criminal convictions (even if they admitted on a previous government form), and if even they do admit use voluntarily, it does not matter, because…the military (or employer) will test you regardless upon entry or re-entry and while serving (or working) [until policy changes such as full legalization of cannabis]. It as if it did not happen.
Relating to military recruitment, there should be no requirement of a military waiver for marijuana use not attached to criminal charges and any waivers that are on record for people who admitted marijuana use not attached to criminal charges before active duty or even after active duty who wish to rejoin (regardless if they used within the inactive portion of their Military Service Obligation which aligns to Section 528 of the FY2020 National Defense Authorization Act, considering the section insinuates that waivers are only needed for “active duty”, i.e., not “inactive duty”), should be expunged immediately.
I added on, “within the inactive portion of their Military Service Obligation” is because once a person separates from active-duty service, they are not getting active-duty benefits, they typically fall under Non-Participating Inactive Reserve Status which is effectively back to Selective Service status of the general public, they receive no BAH (Housing Allowance) from the military, no BAS (Sustenance or Food Allowance) from the military, no uniform stipend from the military, perform no military Physical Tests (PT) or Fitness Tests, likely do not receive Tri-Care Health Insurance from the military, and most fall under the jurisdiction of the Veterans Administration, i.e., once you start drawing Veteran Benefits you can’t receive active-duty benefits.
Further, my idea is good, because The United States only has roughly 300 to 330 Million people; however, we have vast responsibilities covering the globe spanning Eurasia, Eastern Europe, the South China Sea, etc., where our adversaries have populations of 1 Billion and that is not including their own allies. So, to limit the candidate pool because of stigma over something that many states deem to be acceptable, same as many people serving in Congress find it to be acceptable, is simply bad policy of an antiquated time that has systemically embedded itself into negative stereotypes, mass arrests, ruined lives, administrative burdens, and ruined futures, etc.
I see no value to the military (Department of Defense), federal contractors, or the taxpayers who fund the military in asking military recruits, people who wish to seek re-entry into the military, civilian federal employees, or employees of federal contractors, if they have used marijuana, especially if it not attached to any recorded criminal conviction.
For now, the military should only care about criminal charges relating to marijuana – until Congress can reschedule cannabis in the Controlled Substances Act and/or pass legislation such as the MORE Act or equivalent – since criminal charges could possibly create liability issues, e.g., possible outstanding warrants. Criminal convictions pose more of a constraint on logistics and planning for the military, e.g., dates in which recruits can go to Basic Military Training, Officer Training/Candidate School, etc. However, even criminal convictions do not disqualify a person from service (which is good since the military can reshape lives), but simply asking for use without any criminal record has no value and should require no waiver.
Think of it as the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” regarding Marijuana use for initial entry or re-entry into the Armed Forces (or even relating to Security Clearances for troops and contractors). “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was acceptable for decades, but we finally progressed passed that, and now it is time for marijuana, which is a commodity which is traded on stock market via the Over-the-Counter Market which is readily available on commercial exchanges such as E-Trade (owned my Morgan Stanley), taxed by states, creates jobs, reduces black-market crime and trafficking, and was legal for most of our nation’s history. In other words, The Founding Fathers and Revolutionaries had more leeway than people in 2020.
According to Booker (2018) of NPR (National Public Radio), “For the first time in what historians say could be centuries, hemp has been grown and harvested at Mount Vernon, George Washington’s historic estate. In the 1760s, Washington predicted that hemp could be a more profitable crop than tobacco and grew it across his farm. At the time, hemp was abundant in Virginia and elsewhere in the U.S. This summer, horticulturists at Mount Vernon partnered with the University of Virginia and planted hemp once again. “To bring this crop back it just really helps complete our agricultural story,” says Dean Norton, the director of horticulture at the estate. The push to bring back hemp came from a Charlottesville, Va., farmer, Brian Walden, who considers himself a “hemp patriot.””.
Regarding that fact about Mount Vernon, Virginia, i.e., George and Martha Washington’s estate, Mount Vernon is registered with the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, U.S. National Historic Landmarks, and Virginia Landmarks Register. The U.S. National Register of Historic Places is operated by the National Park Service which falls under the Department of Interior, giving further support to the fact that Federal Government does support the growth of marijuana, which in this case, has historical basis considering cannabis was legal for most of the United States’ history.
It is… useless to ask for “use” of marijuana. The military should care for criminal convictions (which is debatable in itself) for cannabis (until the United States reschedules cannabis) because A) the military should only care for use while in Active Status – emphasis on active status – due to readiness, investment, troops get paid, etc., B) the military test randomly all the time such as at MEPS and during active service C) asking for use not tied to criminal convictions encourages people to shy away from the military, and D) the trend of legalization is already here in which many states have full decriminalization for recreational and medicinal use.
For example, if a person lives or has lived in a state, city, locality, municipality, etc., where cannabis (marijuana) is legal and/or decriminalized, but they end up wanting to serve the United States in the military or as a civil servant or contractor, or a former member wants to come back and serve some more, why would a person need a waiver or be asked about “use not attached to criminal convictions”, especially when many states say it is legal and these states contribute to the Total Force Structure of the Department of Defense via the National Guard?
Part of the military is state driven; thus, part of the military is de-facto sovereign (despite the controversial Montgomery Amendment) where the State Governor is Commander-in-Chief (unless under federal orders). Many states with these National Guard Units are fine with marijuana thus meaning the Commander-in-Chief is fine with marijuana; taxes from marijuana might be directly and indirectly funding National Guard units such as roads, air strips, utilities, etc.; state marijuana tax revenues free up federal funds (less money states request from the federal government), and marijuana taxes fund social programs such as education. State marijuana tax revenues thus supports the overall Total Force Structure of the Department of Defense in direct and indirect ways.
States that tax marijuana and distribute funds throughout their state support the Total Force Structure of the military both federally and at the state level (National Guard). Many states with legal marijuana use that money to fund educational programs such as colleges which house ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps) units. Since marijuana tax revenue is going to education, this possibly increases the cognitive competencies of workers and potential recruits or service-member who wish to seek re-entry.
For example:
A state might fund a community college system with marijuana tax revenues (or, by other means enabled by diverting funds from elsewhere only made possible by marijuana taxes), but a troop using Tuition Assistance might be taking classes at that facility.
A state library system might be sharing resources with a military base library.
A State University system by expanding construction projects produces direct benefits for ROTC units, such expanded fitness facilities, classrooms, etc.
Further, marijuana tax revenue is going to fund law enforcement in these states and local law enforcement works in unison with the military and Military Police when it comes to legal matters such as responding to emergencies. In addition, marijuana tax revenue is going towards public health efforts which also helps to protect the military, civil servants, and workers for federal contractors. Public Health has always been a concern of the military going back as far as the military educating troops about diseases such as a Syphilis during the World Wars. By states increasing public health funding, enabling testing services, providing contraception, tracking viral outbreaks, offering clean needle exchanges, providing family planning services, etc., this provides an extra level of protection to service members, civil servants, and federal contractors.
Further, many Air National Guard Units are cohabiting with civilian airports which are used as runways, and I am confident that tax revenues from marijuana is helping to fund infrastructure which supports the State National Guard Units but also upstream to the Federal forces of the Department of Defense and Pentagon. In support of this claim, Washington State Treasury (2020), led by Duane A. Davidson who reports to Washington State’s Governor and National Guard Commander-in-Chief, Jay Inslee (Democrat), referenced statistics from the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Control Board’s Fiscal Year 2019 Annual Report. Statistics provided by the Washington State Treasury (2020) included that fact that Washington State collected a total of $395.5 million in legal marijuana income and license fees in fiscal year 2019, all but $5.2 million of it from the state’s marijuana excise, or sales tax. Further Washington State Treasury (2020) stated that the report also shows that the marijuana revenues were $172 million more than that of liquor, and that the marijuana tax income of the state for fiscal year 2019 of $395.5 million grew by slightly more than $28 million from the prior fiscal year. Lastly, based on the statistics provided by the Washington State Treasurer (2020) the General Fund received $116.5 million.
Figure 5 – Washington State’s Liquor and Cannabis Board Annual Fiscal Report (2019)
Marijuana tax allocation to public services in Washington State has a positive social benefit, particularly for a state which lacks a state income tax. Relating to how Washington State distributes its revenues generated from taxation on marijuana, in RCW (Revised Code of Washington) 69.50.540, Titled: Dedicated marijuana account—Appropriations, per section (g), at the end of each fiscal year, the treasurer must transfer any amounts in the dedicated marijuana account that are not appropriated pursuant to subsection (1) of this section and this subsection (2) into the general fund. Later sections of RCW 69.50.540 states that revenues that go into the general funds are distributed to counties, cities, and towns where licensed marijuana retailers are physically located, etc.
Speaking back to the $116.5 million in Washington State’s General Fund which was funded by taxation on legal marijuana per RCW 69.50.540 Section (g), I went to Washington States Office of Financial Management which published the Governor Inslee’s 2019-2021 Proposed Biennial Budget. The Military Department (which includes the Air and Army National Guard Units of Washington State) was allocated $14.7 Million in which $5 Million goes to Shake-Alert Monitoring System for the procurement of seismic monitoring stations and global navigation satellite systems which integrates with the overall Shake-Alert System; $928,000 for Tsunami Sirens for Coast Cities which involves the procurement of sixteen (16 each) All-Hazard Alert Broadcast (AHAB) Systems; $750,000 to National Guard Wildfire Pay which pays State Active Duty Wages for service members with firefighter certifications to that of their civilian counter-parts, etc.
Further, while I was searching Washington State’s Office of Financial Management’s website relating to General Fund allocations (which seems to align with marijuana tax revenues allocated through RCW 69.50.540 Section (g)), I found a document Titled: Agency Information Technology Budget Detail, authorized by RCW 43.88.092, Appendix A – IT Projects with OCIO Oversight: Completed for Fiscal Year 2018, where on page 47 of this Appendix, the Military Department (National Guard, etc.) received or will receive a new contract for Next Generation 911 (NG911) Emergency Services IP Network Re-procurement since the current CenturyLink contract is due to expire or has expired. The CenturyLink contract was a transitional system that was awarded before national-standards were implemented and the new NG911 System provides complete call-maker to call-taker Turn-Key services that meets the national standard. [Source: Washington State Office of Financial Management (2019)].
Looking elsewhere on the Office of Financial Management’s website, I found Transportation Projects that directly tied to the U.S. Military, and we can assume that marijuana tax revenues in one shape or another directly or indirectly helps fund these projects.
For Example, per Washington State’s Office of Financial Management’s (2019) documented, titled: OFM Transportation Document 19GOV001 as developed December 10, 2018 – Hwy Mgmt. & Facilities Program (D), one project listed was the I-5 JBLM (Joint Base Lewis McChord) Corridor Improvements under Project No. M00100R.
Further, according to the Washington State Office of Financial Management (2019), on their website in a section titled, 2019-21Governor’s proposed budgets, 2019-29 capital plan, Agency capital project detail, Military Department, I also found National Guard construction projects issued by the Washington State Military Department based out of Camp Murray under RFP-19-GS-006 which was funded by the State Building Construction Account such as $75,000.00 going towards Project No. 40000004 (per the Office of Financial Management) for Anacortes Readiness Center Major Renovation, where the Readiness Center is a National Guard Center that was badly in need of upgrades. Per the Office of Financial Management (2019), The Anacortes Readiness Center is one of the smallest facilities in the Washington National Guard inventory. It has no female restrooms, showers, and locker rooms; lacks office space and classrooms for training purposes; has an inadequate supply room for necessary equipment; and is not ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliant. This project will perform predesign for an ADA compliant facility, which will add 6,000 square feet of new space; renovate offices, classrooms, the kitchen, and supply and storage areas; and create a new locker room, restrooms, and showers for female members.
Lastly, at the Washington State Office of Financial Management (2019) 2019-21Governor’s proposed budgets, 2019-29 capital plan, Agency capital project detail, Military Department, I found Camp Murray Building 33 Addition/Alteration funded by the State Building Construction Account funded at an amount of $1,000,000 to $4,000,000.00. Camp Murray is the National Guard Center for the Washington State National Guard and is right across I-5 from Joint Base Lewis McChord, which is a place I am familiar with since I lived in Fort Lewis and DuPont, WA as a pre-teen.
Looking at these projects I noticed some were listed as federal funded whereas others were listed as state funded, meaning that state marijuana tax revenues which affect the state fund (either directly, or indirectly, i.e., freed up funds from one account made possible by marijuana taxes) for construction projects might be helping to fund military infrastructure.
According to a report titled, Oregon Marijuana Tax Statistics: Accounting Information by Oregon.gov (2020), the State of Oregon as of September 2020 collected $15,765,218 of state taxes and $2,445,050 from local taxes, yet only some local marijuana taxes are collected by the state; those collected locally are not counted here. Actual state and local amounts will be known when quarterly tax returns are filed.
So, based on the report listed above, the total of marijuana tax revenues is $18,210,268.00, yet, on the same Oregon.gov website, there is another report titled, Oregon Marijuana Tax: Distribution Information, which calculated a total of $29,832,637 in which 40% went to the State School Fund, 20% Mental Health, Alcoholism, and Drug Services, Oregon State Police (15%), Oregon Health Authority, for Drug Treatment and Prevention (5%), and 20% went back to the City and Local Governments.
Staggs (2020) of the Orange County Register stated that California has raised $1 billion in cannabis tax revenue since the industry kicked into gear in January 2018, according to figures recently released by the state. The bulk of that $1.03 billion in tax money, after covering regulatory costs, has been spent on programs such as childcare for low-income families, cannabis research, public safety grants and cleaning up public lands harmed by illegal marijuana grows (Staggs, 2020). Yet, for concrete numbers, the State of California Department of Tax and Fee Administration issued a public news release by Wells (2020) which stated that total tax revenue reported by the cannabis industry is $172.7 million for 4th quarter returns due by January 31, 2020 and this does not include tax revenue collected by each jurisdiction.
Section IX – Welfare Argument
Speaking to the Stagg (2020) article, in which he speaks of programs for low-income families, I am confident that some troops, especially lower enlisted troops, might be using State Welfare programs to help supplement income, such as WIC (Women, Infant, and Children Special Nutritional Supplemental programs), childcare support services, etc. These programs are sustaining themselves in part with marijuana tax revenues.
The data shows that during the 2018-19 school year, a third of children at DOD-run schools on military bases in the United States — more than 6,500 children — were eligible for free or reduced lunches. At one base — Georgia’s Fort Stewart — 65 percent were eligible (McFadden, Romo, & Abou-Sabe, 2019).
In 2016, the Government Accountability Office published a report recommending that the Defense Department start tracking data on service members’ and their families’ use of food assistance programs such as SNAP and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, or WIC, but aid groups and lawmakers question whether the department is collecting meaningful data (McFadden, Romo, & Abou-Sabe, 2019).
Section X – Ideas and Arguments Continued
It serves no use to ask for use of marijuana not attached to criminal convictions for new recruits, people who wish to re-enter the military, federal contractors seeking employment, federal civil servants seeking employment, etc. I do respect that the military can test while on active duty considering the importance of the mission, but it is time to progress.
Here is another argument for my idea. For example, does the military ask if you have ever had a beer or glass of wine when wanting to serve? No, they do not, even though alcoholism and social drinking are a part of military life (I grew up around it), even though the reported statistics likely do not state that, because many troops likely do not state the accurate facts for fear of having marks on their record (which might not to be actual policy) or being sent to rehabilitation, which could (even though it is not stated) influence a troop in thinking they might not be successful at promotion levels where character & social politics plays an important role in interviews at board selection committees. Does the military ask if a recruit or person who wishes to seek re-entry ever touched a person in an inappropriate manner? No, they do not, even though – lets be frank – the military does not have the best track record with assault, despite its efforts to combat it. So, we make a big deal about marijuana use not attached to criminal charges, even though prior service or out-of-service marijuana use does not create a bruised eye for the military, yet we do not ask questions or require waivers that relate to alcohol use that is not tied to criminal charges, nor does the military have means to search for improper sexual misconduct that is not reported, etc.
Regarding marijuana, there are stereotypes and stigmas, and even if there were studies, they are likely are so antiquated and outdated, that their relevancy has no sway considering such studies were most likely highly biased based on the times (such as previous times being more racist such as against African Americans and Hispanics, most notably Mexican Americans – note: Hispanic participation in the military is growing and African Americans have served in each conflict of the United States).
Further, stigma in part comes from the social change in the 1960s and 1970s in which the outcome of the Vietnam War was likely blamed in the social consciousness on drug use to hide the mismanagement of the Nixon and Johnson Administrations. The War on Drugs was arguably a strategy to quell the anti-Vietnam War and pro-Civil Rights efforts, even though the real drug culprit was opium, not marijuana, yet, ironically, for nearly two decades we had a legal opium market via prescription drugs (in which company stock were common in every-day Americans 401ks, possibly even military or government Thrift Savings Plans (TSP), i.e., the American public profited from opium addiction which is far more dangerous than marijuana).
The only reason why marijuana is considered a “gateway drug” as you know is because our policies push people to the gatekeepers, i.e., drug dealers (traditionally speaking, since many states with decriminalization efforts have functional, safe, and regulated commercial enterprises where people do not have to go into the black market for cannabis).
Even, Republicans such as former House Speaker and House Minority Leader, John Boehner is profiting from it and that is fine. Are people really going to convince me that he or people associated with him have lost Security Clearances or do not grant commission to Service Academies, or write recommendations, etc.? Presidents from both major parties have admitted using marijuana. Think about that. Our Commander-in-Chiefs have used marijuana but also ironically incarcerated others for it or have disbarred or rejected people because of marijuana. Note: I understand that politics is not easy, but still, there is the moral behind what I am saying.
I am not stating that active-duty troops should be using marijuana until policy changes occurs (which could be modeled on the Canadian model which in itself is based in part from American States where marijuana is legal) but asking newcomers to the military, people who rotated into civilian life and wish to serve again, civil servants or employees of federal contractors, etc., if they’ve use marijuana when there is no criminal record of it is a waste of time. Time is money. Only worry about criminal charges, yet even criminal charges are debatable because of disparities along racial, ethnic, and income lines. To my analogy of alcohol or sexual content, there is plenty of abuse of alcohol at all ranks and there has been plenty of sexual predators who have slipped through the cracks who have no record, but irresponsible alcohol use and assault of any kind, but particularly that of a sexual nature, are way more of a threat than marijuana ever could be, especially since many states have made cannabis legal (and these states have Guard Units that are a part of the Total Force Structure which supports the Department of Defense).
A measure which reforms military Drug and Alcohol Abuse Certificates (or equivalent) across the Sister Service Branches of the Department of Defense for entry or re-entry into the military and which revises forms (questions asked on applications, Standard Form 86s, etc.) of Federal contractors to only ask for criminal convictions relating to marijuana until an Executive Order from the President and/or legislation from the Congress relating to legalization and/or rescheduling of marijuana to a decriminalized category is needed. The measure will reform forms and practices for the federal government and its contractors to only ask for use relating to recorded convictions, rather than asking any question relating to simple “use”. Candidates, recruits, applicants, etc., do not have to state whether they have used marijuana if not attached to criminal convictions, considering the government and many companies have robust drug testing policies.
Asking for marijuana use not attached to criminal charges on forms such as AF Form 2030 Drug and Alcohol Abuse Forms (or equal across Sister Service Branches) and SF 86, are also systemically racist, even if incidental by nature, and thus violates the goals of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which has provisions such as Title VII which strives on increase minority and woman representation within government. Title VII provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 are expressed in Federal Acquisition Regulation Clause FAR 52.222-25 Affirmative Action Compliance, meaning that federal contractors must follow this clause, which further means that asking questions about marijuana use not attached to criminal charges increasingly violates the goals of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Effectively the Controlled Substance Act is hampering Civil Rights, particularly through the judicial system via policing policies, etc.
According the American Civil Liberties Union’s (ACLU) website section, titled: Marijuana Arrest by Numbers, 52% of all drug arrests in 2010 were for marijuana, and that most people that people are arresting are not kingpins but rather people with small amounts of pot (end quote). Further, the ACLU (2020) issued a more recent report, titled: Tale of Two Countries: Racially Targeted Arrests in the Era of Marijuana Reform, which details marijuana arrests from 2010 to 2018 and examines racial disparities at the national, state, and county levels. Two key findings that I will point out in the ACLU (2020) report is that Marijuana Arrests Decreased after Legalization or Decriminalization, yet Racial Disparities in Arrests Persist Even in States That Legalized or Decriminalized Marijuana. Many of these states (which some are the whitest states in America) also have a strong military presence. For example, F.E. Warren AFB in Wyoming, Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota, Hill AFB in Utah, Mountain Home AFB in Idaho, Minot or Grand Forks AFB in North Dakota, Offutt AFB in Nebraska, etc. These states in our current political environment are not immune to the national debates, especially those relating to race, so being an African American or Hispanic American (or, any minority group), it is my impression that troops of
Figure 8 – Use of Marijuana Between Blacks and Whites for Ages 12+ (2018)
color, or civil servants or federal contractors, can be singled out or targeted, thus increasing risk of judicial punishment (thus, loss of security clearances). For example, there is an intersection between Blue Lives Matters and the fringes of the Alternative Right.
There might exist a disparity regarding rejections of Security Clearances between minorities and white federal employees and military service members, relating to criminally charged marijuana offenses or admission of marijuana use not attached to criminal charges. White Americans report a higher use of marijuana over a lifetime as compared to blacks at 50.7% white versus 42.4% black (ACLU, 2020, p. 30), but black people make up a higher percentage of arrests cases and this disparity can lead to rejection of security clearances/loss of employment/rejection of employment, thus resulting in lower levels of minority representation, which thus violates the vision of the Civil Rights Act considering many states find marijuana to be a commodity with economic, medicinal, and therapeutic properties.
The ACLU (2020) issued a report titled, Tale Two Countries: Racially Targeted Arrests in the Era of Marijuana Reform, in which the ACLU presented data sourced from Uniform Crime Reporting Data (p. 15), the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data, i.e., NACJD (p.15) and the US Census Bureau (p. 15) proving disparity between white versus black arrests regarding marijuana, and the findings still found a higher level of arrests for African Americans even in states where it is legal. Further, the report stated that its focus was primarily on African Americans in relation to White Americans, and per the report ,the ACLU (2020) were not able to compare marijuana for the Latin (Latinx) community since the FBI Uniform Criminal Reporting system (UCR) does not racially categorize the Latin (Latinx) community since it is comprised of different races, making it impossible to distinguish between Latinx and non-Latinx individuals in the Black and white populations arrest rates for Latinx individuals the report (ACLU, 2020, p. 11). However, the report by the ACLU (2020) does state that it is critical to continue examining the extent of racial bias in the enforcement of marijuana laws, specifically against Black and Latinx populations, but also that of Native and Indigenous populations, Arab and Middle Eastern populations, Asian populations, Pacific Islander populations, and those with multiple racial/ethnic identities (e.g., biracial populations) (p. 30).
Further, ACLU (2020) stated that The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), a federal branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, conducts nationally representative annual surveys of marijuana use over respondents’ lifetime, over the past year, and over the past month. SAMSHA survey data consistently finds that rates of ever use and recent use by race do not significantly differ between Black and white populations (ACLU, 2020, p. 31, para 2). Therefore, the wide racial disparities in marijuana possession arrest rates cannot be explained by differences in marijuana usage rates between Black and white people (ACLU, 2020, p. 31, para 2). In other words, there is something else going on.
In 2018, there were almost 700,000 marijuana arrests, which accounted for more than 43% of all drug arrests (ACLU, 2020, p 7). In fact, in 2018, police made more marijuana arrests than for all violent crimes combined, according to the FBI. Further, it is not clear that marijuana arrests are trending down—they have actually risen in the past few years, with almost 100,000 more arrests in 2018 than 2015 (ACLU, 2020, p 7). On average, a Black person is 3.64 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than a white person, even though Black and white people use marijuana at similar rates (ACLU, 2020, p 7). Black people are still more likely to be arrested for possession than white people (ACLU, 2020, p 10). (See Next Page)
Figure 10 – Figure 12 within the ACLU (2020) Report (p. 33), titled: A Tale of Two Countries: Racially Targeted Arrests in the Era of Marijuana Reform.
How do the facts presented by the ACLU (2020) affect the United States Military, federal government, or government contractors, particularly relating to Security Clearances, employment, recruitment, etc.?
Dickstein (2020) of Stars and Stripes presented a story on how African American troops in the United States Air Force and Space Force are not treated the same as white troops based on a four-month investigation by the Department of the Air Force Inspector General (DAF IG), Lt. General Sami Said. Based on data presented in DAF IG Lt. General Sami Said’s 150-page report, which is careful to note that the identification of racial disparity does not automatically mean racial bias or racism is present, Dickstein (2020) extracted the below bullet-points for his Stars and Stripes article:
Enlisted Black airmen and guardians were 72% more likely than whites to be punished through the Uniform Code of Military Justice or through nonjudicial punishment measures. (Dickstein, 2020).
Enlisted Black airmen and guardians were 57% more likely than whites to face a court-martial. (Dickstein, 2020).
Black junior enlisted Air Force and Space Force troops are twice as likely to be involuntarily discharged for misconduct than white troops. (Dickstein, 2020).
Black Air Force and Space Force service members are 1.64 times more likely to be named suspects in Air Force Office of Special Investigations criminal cases than white service members. (Dickstein, 2020).
Black airmen and guardians are twice as likely be apprehended by Air Force security forces than white airmen and guardians. (Dickstein, 2020).
Black officers are less likely than white officers to be designated to attend professional military education courses. (Dickstein, 2020). ** Note: This bullet is interesting because it doesn’t seem attached to crime, suspicion of crime, or punishment, but rather perception regarding race, yet, the DAF IG is saying that the data doesn’t mean that there is racism?”
Looking at the report myself, although there is an up to 2% racial disparity in overall testing rate for black service members from 2015 to 2019, when broken down by rank, the numbers show black E1-E4s are underrepresented in random testing when compared to their white peers, which indicates there was no inappropriate targeting of young black enlisted members for drug testing. Overall, this report revealed enlisted members were tested at a higher rate than officers consistently from 2015 to 2019, as depicted below (The Department of the Air Force Inspector General, p. 13).
The Inspector General Department of the Air Force (2020) states, objective investigation data from OSI and Security Forces indicate some of the disparity in NJP (Non-Judicial Punishment) results from a disparity in behavior rather than race (The Department of the Air Force Inspector General, p. 11). Accessions data show that members who joined the service with moral waivers are more likely to receive military discipline during their time in service (The Department of the Air Force Inspector General, p. 11). Finally, the disparity in population numbers between demographic groups disproportionally impacts the RPT (Rates Per Thousand) data (The Department of the Air Force Inspector General, p. 11). Because there are fewer black service members than white service members (ratio of about 1:5 overall and 1:13 for officers), even one additional individual disciplinary action will have a far greater impact on the RPT for black service members (The Department of the Air Force Inspector General, p. 11).
Racial disparities in military justice actions against black service members is a complex issue that has been reviewed in-depth by the Air Force Judge Advocate General’s Corps (AFJAG) (The Department of the Air Force Inspector General, p. 11). A 20-year analysis of Air Force NJP data and courts-martial revealed the following: For every single year between 1999 and 2019, black Airmen were more likely to receive NJP than white service members, in terms of RPT. Black service members were 1.74 times more likely than white service members to receive NJP (Non-Judicial Punishment) and 1.60 times more likely than white service members to be court-martialed (The Department of the Air Force Inspector General, p.11). For every single year, black service members were more likely to face courts-martial than white service members. Black service members were court-martialed at an average RPT of 3.39, compared with white service members at an average RPT of 2.12. This data reveals that black Airmen were 60% more likely to face court-martial than white service members (The Department of the Air Force Inspector General, p.11).
The report released by the Department of the Air Force (2020), i.e., DAF IG (2020) relating to racial disparity in Air Force disciplinary action, got me thinking because the DAF IG (2020) talks about “behavior”. What are they really saying with this statement? Is this statement a sort of passive way of insinuating that African Americans have issues? And, if so, are we being sympathetic to the struggles of the African American community and its history, but also the current realities, in which there is a historic and present condition of oppression, imprisonment, laws created to explicitly target African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Indigenous Native Americans (First Peoples), etc.? However, I am not saying the Air Force is not taking the proper steps forward to address racial disparity issues, but one thing they could do is the ideas I am presenting through this paper. Also, they might have to better weigh where they are stationing troops of color by establishing some sort of index which accounts for local hate crimes, political atmosphere, demography, etc. Being a veteran of the United States Air Force, I can attest that most of my experience were positive and I received no disciplinary action (no UCMJ Court Martial, no Non-Judicial Punishments, etc.). I walked a straight line. Yet, I can also attest that the general culture of America where dealing with militarism is largely still dictated and catered to the majority (white) class of the United States. There is an intersectionality between country culture, Republicanism, YouTube military videos, trucks, guns, Soldier of Fortune culture, police, etc. In a way, militarism can be co-opted to be a force for silent white supremacy. When is the last time you have seen an authentic Hollywood blockbuster that showed minorities in a patriotic light while factoring in their pre-military living situations, the social pressures they face both external and internal, the systemic oppression external to the military, etc.?
Yet, I assume that a disparity exists because of marijuana in part, though not entirely (reducing the African American experience to marijuana would be stereotypical in itself). To my understanding, alcohol culture is very Eurocentric whereas cannabis smoking is not (though stats prove otherwise), thus, our nation’s view of alcohol is largely dictated by ethnocentrism, supremacy, etc. However, facts provided by the ACLU (2020) shows that white America consumes the same amount, if not more, cannabis than African Americans do, despite the imagery or stereotypes we see on television.
So, where is this disparity, such as that of the DAF IG (2020) coming from? Likely from a combination of factors, such as what I call “amplification”, i.e., minorities stand out, whereas the majority ironically fades into the background. The DAF IG (2020) did mention the same concept. Further, our there is our criminal justice system. Being a teenager from highly policed urban area is much different than a white teenager from a rural, exurban, or suburban environment.
This got me thinking further. Black Americans, i.e., African Americans, did not have fair voting rights for 77% of the time the United States has been in existence as an officially independent nation. In other words, African Americans were disbarred from law creation, and these laws in many ways have had negative consequences on the community, i.e., African Americans were unable to put their cultural viewpoint or how they view certain issues or substances, on the table. Transatlantic Slavery existed from the late fifteen-hundreds to the late eighteen-hundreds (not including the continuation of sharecropping policies, Jim Crow Apartheid Policies, etc.). 2020 to 1776 (Independence Day) is 244 years. 1776 to 1964 (Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed on July 2, 1964) is 188 years. 188/244 is 0.77 or 77%, i.e., African Americans did not have full Civil Rights protections for 77% of the time since the United States declared independence.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed on August 6, 1965 which means 189 years since 1776, i.e., 189/244 is 0.774 or 77.4%. African Americans did not have full Voting or Civil Rights protections for 77%-77.4% of the time the United States has officially been in existence.
The first record black African slaves were brought to what is now the United States of America, to Jamestown Colony on August 20, 1619 after being kidnapped from Angola (History Channel.com Editors, 2020).
2020 from 1619 is 401 years. 1619 to 1964 (the year the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed) is 345 years. 345/401 is .86%. 1619 to 1965 (the year the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed) is 346 years. 346/401 is 86.2%. So, the from the time the first Africans stepped foot on US soil (that is officially recorded), descendants of black African slaves have not had full civil or voting rights protections for 86-86.2% of the time from colonial America to the modern era.
1965 to 2020 is 55 years and 1964 to 2020 is 56 years. Many if not most Black Baby Boomers were born without having Civil or Voting Rights, i.e., my father was born in 1959, meaning his developmental years were formed in a segregated environment, i.e., Southern Georgia.
Think about that,86-77% of Black America’s existence, we were disenfranchised without Civil or Voting Rights protections, and by the time we had full legal protections, most of the economic wealth was already consolidated, such as during the eighteen-hundreds. From 1860 to 1900, the wealthiest 2% of American households owned more than a third (33%) of the nation’s wealth, while the top 10% owned roughly three quarters (75%) of it (Tindall & Shi, 2012, p. 589). The bottom 40% had no wealth at all (Fraser, 2015, p. 66).
So, 1619 to 1900 is 281 years and 1776 to 1900 is 124 years. 281/401 (70%) and 124/401 (30.9%), meaning that from the first time a recorded African stepped foot on what is now the United States or from the later date of American Independence, African Americans by the 1900s were excluded from wealth creation for 70% of the time, later down to 30% of the time, and it would take 64 to 65 additional years to even be granted the Civil and Voting Rights protections they were disbarred from for 86-77% of the time of the United States’ existence.
To amplify the levels of oppression, we must realize that African Americans, according to Bennett, Martin, & Debarros (1993) of the US Census Bureau noted that in 1900, African Americans only made up 11.6% of the population (p.4), and by 1910, 90% of African Americans lived in the Southern United States (p. 4), i.e., the worst place for African Americans to live (though after the Great Migrations, the North proved it was not a good place either, and the West Coast was being settled by many ex-Confederates). Our law policy (drug policy included) is inseparable from race in this county unless we do something about it.
A population making up 11.6-13% of the United States population, has not had Voting or Civil Rights protections for 86-77% of the time the US (and its predecessor colonies) have been in existence, and further, this 11.6-13% was disbarred from the largest centralization of wealth from Founding to the Gilded Age (70-30% of the time since the Colonial Era and Independence), and the bulk of this population (90%) by the early twentieth century still lived in the American South, and on average, per the ACLU (2020) a Black person is 3.64 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than a white person, even though black and white people use marijuana at similar rates.
African Americans, similarly, to Hispanic Americans (which is an ethnicity with a racial spectrum, so some get labeled as “white” whereas others not), Indigenous Native Americans (First Peoples), etc., need help, though we have this notion of “we are all equal”, yet I would argue that a stark view of equality is an inequality, because a moral view of equality does not make up for the real lack of equality (structural, legal, perceptual, etc.) that exists.
Conclusion
A bill, amendment to a bill, rider amendment, or Executive Order should be passed which states that Federal Agencies (the Department of Defense included) should reform forms such as AF Form 2030 (or an equivalent among current or previous Sister Service Branches) and forms such as Standard Form 86 for Federal Background Checks, so that these forms only ask for marijuana use attached to criminal charges (though criminal charges for marijuana should not be ranked as a high disqualifying factor), rather than the current policy of asking for use not attached to criminal charges. This should be done immediately and applied retroactively to any person who was denied entry into the military, denied re-entry into the military, denied employment by for a civil servant position, denied employment by a federal contractor, or denied a Security Clearance regardless if for military employment, federal civilian employment, or employment within a federal contractor.
Bennett, C. E., Martin, B. M., & Debarros, K. (1993, September). We the Americans: Blacks [PDF]. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office on behalf of the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics & Statistics Administration, Bureau of the Census. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/prod/cen1990/wepeople/we-1.pdf
Fraser, S. (2015). The Age of Acquiescence: The Life and Death of American Resistance to Organized Wealth and Power (Edition Unstated ed.). Little, Brown, and Company
Futrell, A. E. (2020, April). Congressional Budget Office, Cost Estimate: H.R. 712, a bill to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a clinical trial of the effects of cannabis on certain health outcomes of adults with chronic pain and post-traumatic stress disorder, and for other purposes, As ordered reported by the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs on March 12, 2020 (No. 56329). Congressional Budget Office. https://www.cbo.gov/publication/56329
The United States Congress. (n.d.). H.R.712 – 116th Congress (2019-2020): VA Medicinal Cannabis Research Act of 2019. Congress.Gov | Library of Congress. Retrieved December 26, 2020, from https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/712
Tindall, G. B., & Shi, D. E. (2012). America: A Narrative History (Brief Ninth Edition) (Vol. 2) (Brief Ninth ed., Vol. 2). W. W. Norton & Company.
Wells, C. (2020, March 6). California Department of Tax and Fee Administration Reports Cannabis Tax Revenues for the Fourth Quarter of 2019 [Press release]. https://www.cdtfa.ca.gov/news/20-03.htm
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