N.E. Brigand Posted September 7, 2013 Share Posted September 7, 2013 This is a nearly impossible subject to discuss in these forums. For the moment, the American public has more or less decided that Stu is right. By virtue of not compelling their representatives to take action to end the sequestration, whether by raising taxes or whatever other means, they have effectively said that sending the Commandant's Own to perform at occasions like DCI Finals is not something they want the government to pay for. That said, the public's mood could change, so if enough people do as Michael Boo suggests, perhaps trips for the Marine drum corps will be funded again--though it will probably take a lot more than that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonnyboy Posted September 7, 2013 Share Posted September 7, 2013 The USMC DBC is great, but they don't have to show at finals to make finals great. Honestly, I would prefer to see them at event other than a drum corps event. I'll leave their schedule up to their commanders, and I won't burden my elected officials with a letter or phone call about drum corps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IllianaLancerContra Posted September 7, 2013 Share Posted September 7, 2013 This is going to get political. In before the close. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted September 7, 2013 Share Posted September 7, 2013 This is going to get political. In before the close. This thread does not have to become political at all as long as we do not point fingers, discuss political parties, or play the name game. DCI is a 'tax' exempt organization; the individual DCI corps are 'tax' exempt organizations; the USMC D&B Corps is a 'tax' funded organization. That, by definition, places these corps in the realm of 'tax' payer concerns not political concerns. And I, for one, think it would be a good will gesture if DCI offered to pay for the service of the USMC D&B Corps thus alleviating that cost burden from the 'tax' payers. That is not political. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
year1buick Posted September 7, 2013 Share Posted September 7, 2013 I sympathize with you, honest; my income in the private sector has fallen over 35%. I do not want to turn this into a political debate and get the thread locked, so I will tread lightly here. As a taxpayer, when I see our national debt now at $17,000,000,000,000 and rising at whopping $10,000 per second, that is per second, that is a 'grave' issue for me. I certainly desire to continue paying tax dollars 'for needed security and defense', but at this juncture I am also fine with not seeing/hearing the USMC D&B Corps or the Blue Angels perform at the taxpayers expense. Again, if DCI wants to have the USMC D&B Corps perform at Finals great; they should pay for the service just like NASCAR does for the military aircraft flyovers, and not lay that cost burden onto the taxpayers. That's the first I've heard of NASCAR paying for these-- what's your source for this? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted September 7, 2013 Share Posted September 7, 2013 That's the first I've heard of NASCAR paying for these-- what's your source for this? Two sources; speaking with military personnel at NASCAR events and speaking with NASCAR personnel at NASCAR events. To save money, NASCAR secures military aircraft which are going to be in the air already on training missions, or they connect with military pilots who are going to be in the air to get in their yearly flight time hours; then NASCAR pays for the extra time and extra fuel it takes to do the fly-over. This is why the fly-overs are so varied in type of craft, sometimes F-16s, sometimes a Bomber, sometimes a fleet of cobra helicopters, etc.. but note that NASCAR does pay for the extra time and extra fuel. Ya know, some here on DCP make fun of me for admitting that I talk with a lot of people at various events, but hey, I like people and find their lives interesting. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted September 8, 2013 Share Posted September 8, 2013 (edited) yea, Sequestration is a 10 year things. People should remember that. we are getting VERA/VSIP opportunities on 1 OCT. I'm newer (3 years gov service) so I will take furloughs over RIFs, but 20% less living in DC is very rough on the wallet. My explanations in ( ) are for the non-Fed DCPers Understood.... my agency, does IT work for the Navy, has been cutting back from 600+ to about 400 over the last 10 years with more to come. Lot of SIPs (extra $$$$ to retire/leave now) until this year but no Vera (years added to your time worked to add to the retirement). No Reductions in Force (IOW - clear your desk, you're gone). And you're under the "new" (about 25-30 years now) retirement system and not going to try to pretend to know how this mess affects you. And I don't see this as a political thread yet. Just discussing how "real world" affect DC (DC = Drum Corps in this case). Edited September 8, 2013 by JimF-LowBari Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soccerguy315 Posted September 8, 2013 Share Posted September 8, 2013 I sympathize with you, honest; my income in the private sector has fallen over 35%. I do not want to turn this into a political debate and get the thread locked, so I will tread lightly here. As a taxpayer, when I see our national debt now at $17,000,000,000,000 and rising at whopping $10,000 per second, that is per second, that is a 'grave' issue for me. I certainly desire to continue paying tax dollars 'for needed security and defense', but at this juncture I am also fine with not seeing/hearing the USMC D&B Corps or the Blue Angels perform at the taxpayers expense. Again, if DCI wants to have the USMC D&B Corps perform at Finals great; they should pay for the service just like NASCAR does for the military aircraft flyovers, and not lay that cost burden onto the taxpayers. Without trying to turn this political, I will just say that I agree 100% with what you said and there is plenty that can be cut. But the current cuts are not done intelligently. Cutting things DOD wants and keeping things it doesn't want. Terrible. I like the USMC D&BC at DCI championships... but it is not necessary. That said, I'm sure the D&BC sees it as a recruiting event. It's not just for the fans in the audience. They are going to try to recruit potential new members. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted September 8, 2013 Share Posted September 8, 2013 But the current cuts are not done intelligently. There is an opening here for political joke... but I shall restrain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Boo Posted September 8, 2013 Author Share Posted September 8, 2013 This is going to get political. In before the close. It need not be. Those who have already read this thread may not be inclined to read the original posting, so I'll repost here the PS I just added above. <This is not intended to be a political thread, as has been suggested it could become. If one is so inclined to express the opinion that the USMC D&B Corps should be at the World Championships, above are the links to find whom should be contacted. If one is not inclined to express that opinion to their elected officials...well, that's what America is all about.> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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