Military Sponsorships on Chopping Block?

[Paul]

Rep. McCollum: Pentagon’s NASCAR Sponsorship Wastes Money - Washington Wire - WSJ

This should be a fun debate. If the sponsorship generates sufficient recruitment, it should stay.

 

[mw6789]

The article said something about $200 million dollars to sponsor military bands?!?! Somehow I personally dont think race car sponsorships are very cost effective for recruitment. In light of a $13 trillion deficit, Washington needs to learn to live like the folks they SUPPOSEDLY represent. And as my father in law says "Good luck with that deal son".

 

[Jim]

Maybe they think their advertising dollars will be better spent with the Huffington Post.

PS: My nephew is with one of the military bands. It is the BEST job in all the services. Is it neccessary? I don't know (tho' it's hard to imagine so many public military activities without music).

 

[Toejam]

I have met a TON of people who don't like seeing the Military spending Tax dollars in racing!

 

[BaldyLochs]

What next. I've been expecting this for a long time, actually. I used to joke with a friend of mine about Shoemacher's car. They have the Army sponsorship, I'm a US citizen and a taxpayer - so in essence - I'm personally helping fund that car..... so I should get unrestricted access to thier pit area and be his starting line guest at the races I attened!

 

[Raconteur]

I have met a TON of people who don't like seeing the Military spending Tax dollars in racing!

Yeah, right, bring back the Selective Service Draft... that worked GREAT for the Vietnam War!

 

[vegasnitro]

I am sure they have some kind of metric that tracks the number of new recruits that have enlisted through the various sponsorships. Otherwise, I doubt they would have been sponsoring DSR as long as they have.

As far as a waste of money ... they should get way down the list of wastes of taxpayer's dollars before they get to the 3 million or so they are spending sponsoring DSR per annum.

 

[Percboy]

Yeah, right, bring back the Selective Service Draft... that worked GREAT for the Vietnam War!

Im guessing you are saying sponsoring a car makes kids want to sign up.
My guess is 99.99% of those kids had already made up their mind long before seeing a Tony Schumacher pass.
IMO, his "sales pitch" at the end of the track after a securing another Wally has done little in swaying a kid that may have been on the fence about joining.
GM took a bunch of crap for sponsoring after the bailout. Those are the same federal tax dollars on the side of Tonys car.

 

[Raconteur]

As far as a waste of money ... they should get way down the list of wastes of taxpayer's dollars before they get to the 3 million or so they are spending sponsoring DSR per annum.

I'll take Ethanol Subsidies for $6 billion, Mr. Gore.

 

[Jenn]

I have met a TON of people who don't like seeing the Military spending Tax dollars in racing!

I'm not a big fan of it either. Sponsor a race team or give better pay raises to the troops. Last year it was 1% pay increase. Our medical and dental premiums went up too.

 

[Raconteur]

Im guessing you are saying sponsoring a car makes kids want to sign up.

No, this is an extremely cost-effective ADVERTISING campaign and all motorsports is a cost-effective way to reach new prospects of recruiting age for an All Volunteer Military.

The Selective Service Draft would be a great alternative... Conscription for everyone!

 

[Tom]

Let's take a step back and look at a little bigger picture here for a sec and put a different spin on it:

Some of us don't give two squirts about Football, Baseball, Basketball or Hockey, yet the taxpayers (yes, albeit on a more local level) pay for the facilities they play in (I still don't get why stadiums are only good for 10 years or so before they need a whole new one?!). In Sacramento here, the Kings owners have been trying to wrestle a new arena out of the citizens for years, even to the point of strong armed attempts. I and thousands and thousands of others are saying "we're not basketball fans, why should WE have to pick up the bill and pay for it too?!", yet eventually we all do.

So how is this different? At least with Martin's Nascar and Shoe's NHRA sponsorship, ALL sports demographics are covered. EVERYBODY ends up with something for their tax dollars. The government wastes far more. If they parked Pelosi's high falutin' private airliner for good, they could fund the entire Top Fuel class all season. The money they spend on racing sponsorships is a drop in a much bigger bucket (think tankcar) than what they waste money on in the Federal Government (think TSA); at least we all get something we can tangibly see out of it.

 

[Dave]

At least with Martin's Nascar and Shoe's NHRA sponsorship, ALL sports demographics are covered.

Mark Martin hasn't driven the Army car in years. It's Ryan Newman now, on Tony Stewart's team.

 

[Tom]

I'm not a big fan of it either. Sponsor a race team or give better pay raises to the troops. Last year it was 1% pay increase. Our medical and dental premiums went up too.

This attitude is something else. You all complain about the lack of corporate sponsorship and how drag racers are the red headed step children of the motorsports world when it comes to support, media and sponsorship, yet you complain about one of the few sponsorships who DO support drag racing??

Wow.

And with this train of thought, should we park the Blue Angels, Thunderbirds, or Golden Knights too?

 

[.]

Let's take a step back and look at a little bigger picture here for a sec and put a different spin on it:

Some of us don't give two squirts about Football, Baseball, Basketball or Hockey, yet the taxpayers (yes, albeit on a more local level) pay for the facilities they play in (I still don't get why stadiums are only good for 10 years or so before they need a whole new one?!). In Sacramento here, the Kings owners have been trying to wrestle a new arena out of the citizens for years, even to the point of strong armed attempts. I and thousands and thousands of others are saying "we're not basketball fans, why should WE have to pick up the bill and pay for it too?!", yet eventually we all do.

So how is this different? At least with Martin's Nascar and Shoe's NHRA sponsorship, ALL sports demographics are covered. EVERYBODY ends up with something for their tax dollars. The government wastes far more. If they parked Pelosi's high falutin' private airliner for good, they could fund the entire Top Fuel class all season. The money they spend on racing sponsorships is a drop in a much bigger bucket (think tankcar) than what they waste money on in the Federal Government (think TSA); at least we all get something we can tangibly see out of it.

FOr someone who *****es about the government as much as you do, you sure don't mind seeing taxpayer money on the side of race cars.

 

[Tom]

FOr someone who *****es about the government as much as you do, you sure don't mind seeing taxpayer money on the side of race cars.

So let's make all of the cars white with nothing but huge black labels saying "GENERIC RACE CAR" and with nothing but Ethanol in the tanks. We'll just create one huge class of cars all racing together at the speed of smell.

Oh wait, can;t do that either: The government funds the ethanol industry.

Soap Box Derby anyone??

And no, I sure DON'T mind getting at least SOMETHING for the thousands of dollars each of us gives the government to play with and waste.

 

[.]

So let's make all of the cars white with nothing but huge black labels saying "GENERIC RACE CAR" and with nothing but Ethanol in the tanks. We'll just create one huge class of cars all racing together at the speed of smell.

Oh wait, can;t do that either: The government funds the ethanol industry.

Soap Box Derby anyone??

And no, I sure DON'T mind getting at least SOMETHING for the thousands of dollars each of us gives the government to play with and waste.

So in otherwords, the government tit is ok if it is something YOU enjoy. Got it.

 

[Bullet]

What next. I've been expecting this for a long time, actually. I used to joke with a friend of mine about Shoemacher's car. They have the Army sponsorship, I'm a US citizen and a taxpayer - so in essence - I'm personally helping fund that car..... so I should get unrestricted access to thier pit area and be his starting line guest at the races I attened!

Try walking into Force's pit with a bottle of Castrol GTX if you are a BP shareholder and see if that theory works....

 

[Tom]

So in otherwords, the government tit is ok if it is something YOU enjoy. Got it.

Like this is the only thing "on the government tit". Have you ever visited a National Park? Or is that government waste too? How about the airports thousands of racers and race fans use to GET to the races? More government waste?

 

[elvis]

I'm not a big fan of it either. Sponsor a race team or give better pay raises to the troops. Last year it was 1% pay increase. Our medical and dental premiums went up too.

A lot of people in the US didn't get a 1% pay increase last year. Many took a big cut. Everybodys insurance went up too. I work for the Army and I make a lot less than what I did at my old job. But that place went out of business. I believe troops get a 2% raise this year where civilians like me are froze for 2 years.