WhoKnewWhatWhenVille
According to Auditor General Michael Ferguson it is.
He said so specifically and explicitly to the non-anime version of Evan Solomon this morning.
You can listen to it here.
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Please note that, despite what is written in the report, the AG will not explicitly or specifically say who knew what when...He did, however, say that these are questions that the Ministers involved should answer...Those Ministers were not available to Mr. Solomon...Instead, the weasel-wording was left to Mr. Chris Alexander and it would appear that the strate(r)gy is to blame the DND and trumpet a new and improved value-for-money process because, you know, there is no contract...Excellent pivot to the national shipbuilding strategy by-the-way Mr. Alexander...Sheesh...Do these people actually look at themselves in the mirror in the morning?
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8 comments:
Absolutely! It is a low ball figure and by tonight, (the god of planting carrots willing), I will demonstrate that quite clearly.
Look forward to it Dave.
Good luck with the carrots.
Me, I've got moss in the grass issues to deal with.
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Yes, the $25B is almost certainly a lowball figure.
Eric Margolis, in his book entitled "American Raj: Liberation or Domination" had pointed out that the real costs of these modern fighter jets are two to three times their purchase price. The additional costs are due to the constant maintenance and upgrading that are needed over the lifespan of these planes. Margolis' observation was based on the planes that the middle eastern and African countries had purchased.
Thus using the PBO's estimated costs of these F35's at $30B, the real costs to taxpayers would have been about at least $60B according to Margolis.
The real question Canadians should ask is who really benefits from buying the F35's? Always follow the money.
How much the useless to Canada JSF-35 costs and who knew how much it cost and when is irrelevant. The plane is only of use if Canada (not just Stevie and his thugs) wants to be part of America's Imperial Legion. Also, the plane will be useless even in the role it was designed for (attacking defended "foreign" air space ala "shock and awe" over Baghdad. Old style radar can see it, Russian or ? fighters and missiles can knock it out and easily knock out the AWACS and fuel tankers that it needs to complete its mission. As the mound of sound over at the Disaffected Lib puts it:
"So the Russians have done the math and they're very good at this sort of thing. They know that one (and it's only one) way to skin the F-35 cat is to go for the low hanging fruit - the tankers and AWACS control aircraft. They're bit and slow and ungainly and that makes them really easy meat. And those pesky Russians have built long-range missiles specifically for that job. Even if you can only take out the tankers, the F-35 is reduced to a one-mission air war. You don't have to shoot it down, it'll crash all on its own when it runs out of fuel. That makes the F-35 a mega-costly cruise missile. Hmm, why didn't I think of that"
A manned cruise missile at that, shades of the Japanese at the end of the war with the pilots who didn't really have to learn much about landing.
The mound has a recent series of posts that thoroughly explain what the F(it ain't a fighter)-35 is all about and the folks at the Beaver have been all over it as well.
Who wants the F-35 money as anon states.......the history of the arms trade is extremely corrupt as dealers and politicos get very wealthy.......25% of 30-60 billion will pad a few of harperbots' nests....poopheads!
Thanks very much Anon--
Will be interesting to check and compare Mr. Margolis and Dave after the latter posts up.
(and we hear you lg - following the money will be key here)
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koot--
I fully understand your point.
However, I do not consider the overrun to be irrelevant when we have a government that is using such overruns as an excuse to destroy Canada's institutions.
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I will step back from irrelevant, on the cost.....but if one considers whether the F(notAfighter)-35 is really something useful to Canada, and instead seeks something useful, we then consider the cost of that.
Cost is never an object with Republicans or Reformatories, the ReThugs will borrow the moon and sun to finance wars without inconveniencing rich people, and Harper would much rather spend our money on war toys than healthcare or education or even after-care for used up soldiers.
Gotcha Koot--
Thanks.
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