Army Says "No Thanks" for Tanks

On April, 28, 2013, in an article titled, “Abrams Tank Pushed By Congress Despite Army’s Protests” from The Huffington Post, Richard Lardner posted about a Congressional topic regarding the government supply of tanks to the military. By providing a large supply of Abram tanks, which are seventy-ton military tanks, the nation is facing a budget battle. Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers have used nearly half a billion dollars in taxpayer money over the past two years to build improved versions of these tanks, but army officials are repeatedly saying that they do not want it anymore. General Ray Odierno, the Army’s chief of staff said,” If we had out choice, we would use that money in a different way” (The Huffington Post). Keeping the Abrams production line rolling protects well-paying jobs in congressional districts where many of the tank suppliers are located. The nations tank plant is in Lima, Ohio. Therefore there is no question that the senators and representatives there are the champions for more tanks. Representative Jim Jordan used an excuse and stated, “The one area where we are supposed to spend taxpayer money is in defense of the country” (The Huffington Post).