Enormous Cuts in Military Spending? Read the Fine Print

[Donnachaidh]

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/08/03-2

In this age of austerity, all the politicians are talking about the need for spending cuts. But when it comes to shared burdens and slashed budgets, don't expect the Pentagon to start holding bake sales, despite what you may have heard about reductions to its obscenely bloated funding.

Citing the U.S. government's $14.3 trillion debt, lawmakers from both parties have seized the moment to try and attain long hoped-for cuts to Social Security and Medicare. But the recent deal does seem to include some good news for lovers of peace: the push for reductions would encompass the war-making part of the state. Indeed, according to a “fact sheet” released by the White House on the bipartisan compromise, the recent deal to raise the national debt ceiling “puts us on track to cut $350 billion from the defense budget over 10 years.”



Popular liberal pundits, such as The Washington Post's Eugene Robinson and Ezra Klein, reacted by calling the supposed defense cuts “gigantic” and “unprecedented.” The White House says they're the first spending reductions since the 1990s.

But don't start cheering yet. As with any other major bipartisan initiative in Washington – the Iraq war and the Wall Street bailouts come time mind – there's ample reason to be skeptical.

More at the link --

[Vinnie From Indy]

1. I think the plan is to strip out or drastically water down the automatic

cuts to defense spending in the "trigger" scenario. The "triggers" are the mechanism by which Congress and the President will begin to dismantle the New Deal. The MIC has nothing to worry about because the triggers that are part of this grand deception will never come to fruition. We are being played yet again.

[MilesColtrane]

2. Enormous or not, the MIC certainly seems scared of triggered cuts.

(Marion C. Blakely is the CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association.}

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/debt-deal-trigger-dangles-sword-of-damocles-over-defense-126543863.html

We commend Congress and President Obama for reaching a deal to extend the debt limit and avoiding a disastrous default. But the deal also dangles a Sword of Damocles over our national security later this year when further cuts would be triggered unless another compromise is reached. The cuts to defense proposed in the 'trigger' deal are so draconian that it's hard to believe they are even on the table.

In the initial round of proposed reductions, cutting an estimated $350 billion more from the defense budget forces Pentagon leadership to make extremely tough decisions. In this difficult process, the aerospace industry is committed to working hand-in-hand with Pentagon leadership to reduce costs and ensure the United States maintains our technological advantage in defense.

But the $600 billion in additional cuts to defense that are part of the so-called 'trigger' deal are a dangerous approach that could compromise our national security for decades to come, while at the same time failing to create fiscal stability. Worst of all, they could leave our troops with old, worn-out equipment, diminished capability and vulnerable to threats from across the globe.

National security funding should not be treated as a piggy bank for deficit reduction, while the real drivers of our fiscal problems, such as entitlement spending, are off the table. Defense spending must be consistent with our national interests and real military needs.