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July 14, 2001
Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld is really looking for trouble. He openly discussed the fact that the military has 25 percent more bases than it needed. In the last 13 years, the military has cut its manpower by a third, but closed only 20 percent of its bases. There are still 600 bases, although only 250 are considered major. Although it is widely known that the bases closed in the last 13 years have actually helped the local communities (on average), it's still a politically sensitive act. Some local politician will always raise a stink and the local congressman and senator will feel compelled to "do something" in Washington to save the base. In the last decade, closed bases have usually attracted commercial firms, that generally provide more, and higher paying, jobs. The former base property now pays local taxes, which reduces the tax load for everyone else in the area. Now one has yet found a way to get these truths across to people in areas threatened with a base closing. It appears that Mr Rumsfeld is going to give it a try, and save billions of dollars a year for more needed programs.
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