Kasich Ridiculously Suggests U.S. Navy Is Too Small

Columbus Dispatch:

As he prepares to announce his quest for the Republican presidential nomination on Tuesday, Gov. John Kasich is poised to call for a major increase in the size of the U.S. Navy, saying that the American fleet has “really eroded.”
Although Kasich has not said how many ships he wants to add, he has made clear his belief that the current Navy of 272 ships is not large enough to deter China’s assertiveness in the South China Sea, attack Islamic State militants in Iraq and maintain a strong presence in the Atlantic Ocean.

That's John Kasich's big foreign policy position?  Consider how much bigger our navy is than any other in the world:

The U.S. Navy has 288 battle force ships, of which typically a third are underway at any given time. The U.S. Navy has 10 aircraft carriers, nine amphibious assault ships, 22 cruisers, 62 destroyers, 17 frigates and 72 submarines. In addition to ships, the U.S. Navy has 3,700 aircraft, making it the second largest air force in the world. At 323,000 active and 109,000 personnel, it is also the largest navy in terms of manpower.
What makes the U.S. Navy stand out the most is its 10 aircraft carriers—more than the rest of the world put together. Not only are there more of them, they’re also much bigger: a single Nimitz-class aircraft carrier can carry twice as many planes (72) as the next largest foreign carrier. Unlike the air wings of other countries, which typically concentrate on fighters, a typical U.S. carrier air wing is a balanced package capable of air superiority, strike, reconnaissance, anti-submarine warfare and humanitarian assistance/disaster relief missions.

Compare that to China, the world's second largest navy:

The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has come a long way in the last 25 years. The spectacular growth of the Chinese economy, which fueled a tenfold defense-budget increase since 1989, has funded a modern navy. From a green-water navy consisting of obsolete destroyers and fast attack boats, the PLAN has grown into a true blue-water fleet.
The PLAN currently has one aircraft carrier, three amphibious transports, 25 destroyers, 42 frigates, eight nuclear attack submarines and approximately 50 conventional attack submarines. The PLAN is manned by 133,000 personnel, including the Chinese Marine Corps, which consists of two brigades of 6,000 marines each.
The People’s Liberation Army Navy Air Force provides fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters for China’s new aircraft carrier, helicopters for surface ships, and shore-based fighter, attack and patrol aircraft. The PLANAF has 650 aircraft, including J-15 carrier-based fighters, J-10 multirole fighters, Y-8 maritime patrol aircraft, and Z-9 antisubmarine warfare aircraft.

Or take a look at this graphic:

 Oh shit, Italy has 2 aircraft carriers!  Hey, let's take a look at the ISIS navy:

No, seriously, I remember the USS Cole attack.  However, ISIS is in possession of a bunch of useless desert, and has nothing more than a couple Zodiac boats that could pass for a navy (which unfortunately can blow a bigass hole in a U.S. warship).  The fact is, the U.S. Navy is a ridiculously oversized force which is possibly vulnerable to missile attack and hasn't fought a real naval battle in almost 50 years.  There is possibly no less useful defense expenditure than building a larger navy just because we used to have more ships than we do now.  It seems like John Kasich looked around and said, "what ridiculous and wasteful defense program haven't the other dumbfuck Republican candidates put forward?  Oh, a bigger navy, that's what I'll go with."  He's proud he limited the billions of dollars we flushed down the toilet on the B-2 bomber (which my grandpa helped design), but he's come up with an equally wasteful project to champion in his tilt at the Republican nomination windmill.  God help us, Republicans are useless idiots.