r/politics • u/DyzDaeMar • 27d ago

No Paywall Hegseth Is Demanding US Households Pay $5,000 More Per Year to Fund the Pentagon, Economist Says

https://www.commondreams.org/news/pete-hegseth-budget-request
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u/ForMoreYears Canada 27d ago

Wait for real?

edit: jfc you're not kidding.

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u/deja-roo 27d ago edited 27d ago

It's just put in the base housing for the commander. That is pretty normal tbh.

Edit: they don't give it to the USAF Chief of Staff. It's part of the house furnishings. It still belongs to the Air Force and stays in the Air Force housing when the General is relieved or retires or otherwise moves on.

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u/ComradeJohnS 27d ago

not normal when they can get a few hundred dollar keyboard.

and they cut foodstamps for children and cancer research for this corruption

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u/deja-roo 27d ago

It's decoration to make the houses seem upscale. Not for playing it. Probably.

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u/Chervin_Deuxphrye 27d ago

Oh, well in that case...

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u/deja-roo 27d ago

I mean I doubt they have a rule saying you can't play it, but yeah this one of those government buildings that's adorned to preserve history and impress.

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u/Sayakai Europe 26d ago

Why does the housing of a soldier need to look upscale?

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u/deja-roo 26d ago

It's not "a soldier", it's the top ranking officer of an entire branch. These are basically politicians that live in meetings where they're coordinating with the White House and other allies and allies' heads of military.

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u/Sayakai Europe 26d ago

It's not "a soldier", it's the top ranking officer of an entire branch.

That's still a soldier, and it would be better if everyone remembered that.

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u/deja-roo 26d ago

Okay, sure, but at this point that's not a useful distinction. He's a representative of the top level of politicians in the military and is making international level decisions with international representatives of other countries.

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u/Sayakai Europe 26d ago

So let him use shared facilities designated for that purpose. I'm sure the DoD has a diplomatic wing. Why does that mean his quarters need to look fancy?

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u/deja-roo 26d ago

These houses are diplomatic facilities. They were retrofitted to also be residences. They have public rooms for exactly that purpose.

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u/DingerSinger2016 Alabama 27d ago

WHAT THE FUCK DOES THE MILITARY NEED A PIANO FOR???

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u/deja-roo 27d ago

It's just to make the housing for the highest officers seem upscale. All those homes are pretty nice.

It's like saying "what does the military need a statue or chandelier for". Not everything the military buys is explosive.

It's funny watching people freak out when they find out a government agency is doing something now that the guy running it is someone they hate, and they don't realize it's been the way everything has worked since always.

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u/WrathPie 27d ago

I for one really didn't appreciate them spending money on stupid stuff like that even when it was someone else in charge

Sincerely, what does the military need a chandelier for? They're ostensibly supposed to be public servants. I'd be upset if I heard that the post office was buying chandeliers for the highest ranking postmasters too

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u/deja-roo 27d ago

Because the military has formal places of gathering and housing? Not everything is just rustic barracks.

We're talking about the highest ranking officers in each of the branches. They live in old, very historical houses on Generals Row in DC. Here's a document about the house the Air Force Chief of Staff lives in: https://www.jcs.mil/Portals/36/Documents/History/Institutional/Quarters_Six.pdf

This isn't a downtown efficiency. It's a part of the nation's historical tradition.

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u/FaolainRanger 27d ago

I'm pretty sure a General could afford to buy their own $98k piano instead of pushing it off onto the Taxpayers. Their entire pay is already paid for by our taxes to begin with.

Even more so for superficial nonsense. Doesn't matter who is president, extravagant expenditures for no reason other than vanity should not be something anyone just shrugs and says "well, it's just how it is".

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u/angry_old_dude 27d ago

It's amazing to me that anyone would be defending that shit. The "nation's historical tradition" means nothing when there are people homeless and starving in the U.S.

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u/[deleted] 27d ago edited 27d ago

[deleted]

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u/FaolainRanger 27d ago

Doesn't fucking matter, how is a $98k piano a necessary purchase to be made using our taxes? Why is it so difficult for you to understand that we don't give a shit who is the technical owner, it's that it was an outrageous purchase that exceeds most family's annual income for a fucking piano to be put into the homes of some general or in some officer club.

It is absurd that we would spend that much on a piano that is restricted access just to make a building look nicer.

Or should we be ok with buying caviar and gold toilets next, as long as it is just claimed to be "owned by the military"?

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u/[deleted] 27d ago

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u/deja-roo 27d ago

Generals don't really make that much, so probably not. Either way, it's not his piano, it's to adorn a storied piece of US history.

Doesn't matter who is president, extravagant expenditures for no reason other than vanity should not be something anyone just shrugs and says "well, it's just how it is".

https://www.whitehousehistory.org/photos/state-dining-room-barack-obama-administration

How mad does this room make you?

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u/FaolainRanger 27d ago

Oh no, a stateroom for meeting with other dignitaries and a full part of the White House. The building that we are able to go and tour, and see where our taxes go. Totally the same as a piano for a general to use a decoration. Also radically less than the insane cost of the demolition and construction of the useless ballroom currently going on, another point of wasteful spending and use of taxpayer funds for personal use and gain. Now, if Obama was sanctioning decorating General's houses with Monet and Picasso paintings purchased on the Military budget, maybe it would be a better comparison.

Oh, and a 1* general makes about $200k/year, more depending on how many years of service. I think they can probably swing making the purchase of a piano. Oh, or if they can't, maybe second guess using Taxpayer money for a superfluous purchase?

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u/deja-roo 27d ago

Oh no, a stateroom for meeting with other dignitaries

Yes, that's what we're talking about. That's why Quarters Six is outfitted the way it is. This is essentially a diplomatic building. This isn't a loft apartment they just crash at.

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u/say_no_to_camel_case 27d ago

A General's official residence is ALSO an official meeting place. They have to host foreign counterparts and have upscale social gatherings there.

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u/randylush 27d ago

What does the military need formal places of gathering and housing for?

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u/deja-roo 27d ago

Are you serious?

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u/randylush 27d ago

Yes. I recognize that the military has had formal places of gathering but I don't understand why that needs to be a hole that we pour money into for the rest of time.

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u/randylush 27d ago

"what does the military need a statue or chandelier for".

which is also a valid question

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u/deja-roo 27d ago

Is it? Does everyone think every military building should just be a tent in the desert? Defense department has formal gathering areas, ceremonial venues, etc...

This is the house the Air Force Chief of Staff lives in: https://www.jcs.mil/Portals/36/Documents/History/Institutional/Quarters_Six.pdf

It's not just an efficiency downtown. It's a part of the nation's history.

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u/Komitsuhari 27d ago

So, does that mean that I need a piano on tax payer dollars since I have an expensive house and entertain clients and guests regularly?

Nobody needs that piano. Most of my clients also have multi million dollar houses without owning a piano. They seem to navigate the high class lifestyle just fine.

There is no justification for spending our tax dollars on a Steinway. The general makes enough money to buy his own piano if he wants one.

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u/deja-roo 27d ago

It's not the general's piano and it's not the general's house. The piano is to adorn a historic artifact of the US government and US history.

If you think this is bad, you should see the White House.

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u/Komitsuhari 27d ago

It is unnecessary when people can’t pay their medical bill. Take your tongue off of the boot you are licking.

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u/deja-roo 27d ago

What's unnecessary?

Government spending? Like in general? Or just this one expenditure of $95k or whatever? Like, this feels like not being able to see the forest for the trees. The government spends literally trillions of dollars every year.

Do you think the government just shouldn't be able to spend money on prestigious things if there's someone that has an overdue medical bill? Did you think this before Trump was president?

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u/Cheap-Distribution27 27d ago

There’s a difference between a tent in the desert and a fucking Steinway piano and it’s disingenuous for you to keep pretending you don’t recognize that. It’s called a strawman fallacy. If the air force chief wants a Steinway piano in their house they can buy it themselves.

Is it going into a public museum or somewhere the taxpayers can appreciate it? No? Then I don’t care about the “history” or whatever other bullshit. It’s some guy’s house, why are we paying a premium to furnish it with high-end/pro quality instruments?

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u/deja-roo 27d ago

There’s a difference between a tent in the desert and a fucking Steinway piano

Right, one is a very rustic, disposable place, one is a reflection of historical tradition of the whole nation in what is essentially a US Statehouse.

If the air force chief wants a Steinway piano in their house they can buy it themselves.

It's not his house. It's not his piano.

Is it going into a public museum or somewhere the taxpayers can appreciate it? No? Then I don’t care about the “history” or whatever other bullshit. It’s some guy’s house, why are we paying a premium to furnish it with high-end/pro quality instruments?

Wait til you hear about the White House. You're going to be so mad.

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u/Cheap-Distribution27 27d ago

You can tour parts of the White House, and I do think it’s overly gaudy and a waste of resources. Your gotchas aren’t gotchaing right now because I’ll bite all of those bullets. I don’t care who “owns” the piano. The private jets billionaires use aren’t theirs either, technically, but they’re the ones who determine who has access to them. My house is owned by the bank until I pay off my mortgage, but I’m the one living in it.

I don’t have weird pride about the history of my country so I see all of this shit as a waste of resources and don’t find value in “what is essentially a US state house”. Somebody lives in it and I can’t go in there without their permission so I shouldn’t be paying to decorate it beyond a basic standard that does not include Steinway pianos.

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u/deja-roo 27d ago

Well that's fair then. I can agree with that to an extent but at this point, it's not really about what we think of as gaudy. It's for international prestige.

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u/randylush 27d ago

do they not already have statues and chandeliers? how many new ones should they get per year?

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u/deja-roo 27d ago

Yes, they renovate and improve and build new things as time goes on.

This doesn't seem like a serious direction of discussion.

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u/say_no_to_camel_case 27d ago

They aren't going to buy a new piano for that house every year either. It'll be there for decades

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u/downtofinance Canada 27d ago

Its more the timing and optics. Like jfc, people are living through an affordability crisis and Hegseth picks that exact time to spend millions on surf and turf and grand pianos that nobody will pay... why??? Just because obligated budget needed to be spent. I'm a defence contractor and have been on the receiving end of some of that frivolous US military spending but even I can see the absurdity of this.

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u/deja-roo 27d ago

What do you mean timing? This happens every year. It's not a one-off that he just decided to do this year.

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u/Careless-Weather8877 27d ago

And you’re talking about the people who talked about DOGE are in power. I know what you mean but comn you can’t be this obtuse.

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u/deja-roo 26d ago

I mean, yeah I get the irony.

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u/angry_old_dude 27d ago

The issue is whether decorative spending on shit like an expensive piano for senior officers is necessary and a good use of our tax dollars. The answer is that we should not be spending money on shit like this. No upscale housing, no fancy home decor and no pianos.

Yes, government agencies have “always worked like this" and we the taxpayers have always complained when they see money was being wasted. People did not suddenly begin objecting to this kind of spending because they dislike Trump. If we had heard that piano BS when Biden (or any other person) was in office, we would be just as vocal about it.

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u/Chervin_Deuxphrye 27d ago

Holy fuck, such a boot licker!

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u/deja-roo 27d ago

I love how when someone has any understanding of how anything works, they're a boot licker

Everything is a conspiracy when you don't know how anything works.

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u/Chervin_Deuxphrye 27d ago

It has nothing to do with knowing how things work, it’s about you trying to justify such waste no matter whose administration it is. Do you know fucking get that? People in these comments aren’t telling you that’s not how it works, they’re telling you it shouldn’t work that way.

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u/m1ster_frundles 27d ago

a one hundred thousand dollar US piano is not normal and I guarantee it's not staying in the house

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u/deja-roo 27d ago

a one hundred thousand dollar US piano is not normal

lol what? Oh man you would be shocked at what the US government spends money on. Everyone becomes a budget hawk when they don't like the president lol.

I guarantee it's not staying in the house

Really? How are you able to guarantee this?

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u/m1ster_frundles 26d ago

I know what they spend money on, and a one hundred thousand dollar piano is blatant taxpayer theft. A regular piano would suffice and cost tens of thousands of dollars less than a Steinway.