Senator Coburn has targeted troops and jobs for defense cuts too

Some of this I agree with, like the "Trekkies" money but what about the rest for the troops?

GOP senator outlines $68B in defense cuts
By Donna Cassata
The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Nov 15, 2012

WASHINGTON — Defense spending could be slashed by $68 billion over 10 years if the military stopped spending millions on running grocery stores, operating its own schools and even developing a roll-up version of beef jerky, insists one of the Senate’s leading fiscal conservatives. In a new report, Republican Sen. Tom Coburn dubs the Pentagon the “Department of Everything.”

Coburn details how the Pentagon could save money — vital in a time of rampant federal deficits — if it eliminated duplicative and excessive programs that have nothing to do with the nation’s security. By turns sober and cheeky, the report points out that the Pentagon has spent more than $1 million on the 100-year Starship Project, including $100,000 for a workshop sure to attract Trekkies. One of the discussions was titled “Did Jesus Die for Klingons Too?”

“Our nation’s $16 trillion debt is the new red menace, posing perhaps a greater threat to our nation than any military adversary,” the report says in chilling Cold War terms.

• Nonmilitary research, $6 billion.
• Education, $10.7 billion.
• Tuition assistance, $4.5 billion.
• Pentagon-run grocery stores, $9 billion.
• More than 300,000 military members performing civilian jobs and numerous general officers, $37 billion.
read more here

Coburn burns veterans over guns

Where is the Republican Leadership? Stalled Suicide Prevention Bill Irks Iowa Democratic Veterans
by: T.M. Lindsey
Tuesday (09/18) at 11:16 AM
Like death itself, suicide is a nonpartisan issue, but Sen. Tom Coburn's, R-Okla., procedural hold on a bill that would help prevent suicide among veterans has thrown a partisan cog into the congressional machine. The Joshua Omvig Suicide Prevention bill (S. 479), introduced in the House by Iowa Rep. Leonard Boswell, D-3rd District, sailed through the House in March, passing by a vote of 423-0. And now, Iowa Democratic veterans are speaking out against silence on the matter among the Republican leadership -- in particular, the GOP presidential candidates.

"This is clear bipartisan support for a bill of vital importance," said Bob Krause, chair of the Iowa Democratic Veterans' Caucus. "We are surprised that none of the Republican presidential candidates has publicly voiced objection to Senator Tom Coburn's action that continues to block debate on the measure in the Senate."

Coburn has vowed to continue his hold on the Joshua Omvig bill, introduced in the Senate by Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, before the August recess. Coburn called the bill insulting to veterans and warned that its mandatory mental-health screening could harm their future job options. "I'm going to continue to hold this bill until we work on the issues to guarantee freedoms of the veterans in terms of the tracking," Coburn said on the Senate floor.

go to link above for the rest

He thinks suicide is ok as long as the veterans have a gun to do it with!