In a roundabout way, which I'll explain if this blog post actually posts, I ran across an apparent political and tax anomaly. My impression was that an IRS 501(c)(3) organization had strict limits on political activity. Is there a loophole in which such an organization (it's not "faith-based") can launch vitriolic attacks on elected officials as long as there is no formal campaign in progress?

There's little question that there is pork in the US military budget, and items in the budget that defend against nonexistent or extremely unlikely threats. Sensible military budgets come from an assessment of roles and missions expected of the military, and then the building up of the people, equipment, and other costs needed to carry out those roles and missions.

Many call for massive military budget cuts, but few set out the roles and missions they assume a military will conduct. "Defend the continental united states" doesn't quite fly, with realities such as evacuating civilians from failed states, or operating in coalitions.