Naval Gazing

   During the election campaign, the man who would be president promised to rebuild the U.S. military.
   The Navy, seeing an opportunity, announced just a few weeks after the election that it would like to expand its fleet to 355 ships from its current number of 275, and larger than its previously stated goal of 308 ships.
   The Congressional Budget Office dutifully set about estimating the cost of such a project, and its report released today said it would cost an average of $26.6 billion per year over the next 30 years, "60 percent more than what the Navy has spent on average over the past 30 years."
   And that's in current dollars, without accounting for inflation or cost overruns.
   Moreover, "the cost to build and operate a 355-ship fleet would average $102 billion per year (in 2017 dollars) through 2047," the CBO said. That would be one-third greater than the amount appropriated for today's fleet of 275 ships.
   First question: Where's the money?
   Next question: Who will pay the construction and operating bills?

   Perhaps the government can dun NATO countries for membership dues, just as the president wants to make Mexico pay for his wall -- another  estimated $70 billion.
   Meanwhile, the so-called tax reform plan to be revealed this week is likely to be a rerun of the highly touted but ill fated supply-side, trickle-down policy also known as voodoo economics.
   If that's the plan -- tax cuts for the wealthy and for corporations to kick start growth even as government revenue plummets -- dream on, genius.
   Hasn't happened before. Ain't gonna happen now.
   Ship builders and sailors, even the most patriotic, want to get paid for their work.