Hagel's Defense Cuts Raise Questions for Both Parties

Breitbart ^ | 24 Feb 2014 | Joel B. Pollak

[SoConPubbie]

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel's proposed defense cuts, which would slash the Pentagon budget and shrink the U.S. Army to World War II levels, are a reminder that the only area of government that President Barack Obama seems to have no trouble slashing is the military--despite persistent national security threats, ongoing conflicts abroad, and the consequences for the military families and communities that depend on defense.

The latest cuts, however, also pose uncomfortable questions for both Democrats and Republicans. Democrats' promise that Hagel's unique history as an enlisted soldier would give him unique sensitivity to the needs of the troops seems to have been an oversell, to say the least. He is about to cut tens of thousands of enlisted soldiers from an Army still at war, and will make it more difficult for those who stay to earn promotions. 

In addition, Republicans' promise that last December's budget deal, which reversed parts of the "sequester," was necessary to preserve defense spending now looks like a cruel joke. Obama and Hagel were going to slash defense spending anyway--as Obama has done since the beginning of his profligate administration. That means the Democrats were able to undo the sequester at no political cost. How do GOP leaders explain that?

[SoConPubbie]

	"If we must have an enemy at the head of Government, let it be one whom we can oppose, and for whom we are not responsible, who will not involve our party in the disgrace of his foolish and bad measures." - Alexander Hamilton "We don't intend to turn the Republican Party over to the traitors in the battle just ended. We will have no more of those candidates who are pledged to the same goals as our opposition and who seek our support. Turning the Party over to the so-called moderates wouldn’t make any sense at all." -- President Ronald Reagan "A thing moderately good is not so good as it ought to be. Moderation in temper is always a virtue; but moderation in principle is always a vice." - Thomas Paine 1792 "It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men." - Samuel Adams "If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen." - Samuel Adams

[Diogenesis]

So the money saved is being diverted to Mosques,
to arming al Qaeda, and to unions and the DNC,
all while LEAVING THE BORDER OPEN.

There is a word for this.

[gr8eman]

"How do GOP leaders explain that?"

I'm sure Cruz and Lee, et al will explain this clearly. They're the only leaders in the GOP.

[SoFloFreeper]

Can we cut the crap that these are HAGEL’s cuts????

These are OBAMA and HITLERY’s CUTS.....they are the incumbent and heir apparent leaders of the perverted Democrat party. None of this happens without the approval of the party bosses.

[Buckeye McFrog]

Yep. These are OBAMA’S cuts. As a Fox panelist put it last evening, Chuck Hagel “was just more than willing to be the Republican Useful Idiot here”.

[Howie66]

Rather than cutting our only means of defense back to pre-WWll levels, perhaps it is time to scale back the size and scope of the Federal Government to pre-WWll levels.

I believe that the entire nation would be better off.

[DJ MacWoW]

“I’m in this race not just to hold an office,
but to gather with you to transform a nation.”
- February 10, 2007

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[MadIsh32]

The DoD budget has turned into a largess of corporate welfare that funds 6 and 7 figure lifestyles in the DC area.

Time to cut the thing

[SoConPubbie]

The DoD budget has turned into a largess of corporate welfare that funds 6 and 7 figure lifestyles in the DC area.

Time to cut the thing

Rather than putting our boys and girls in uniform and our country in danger, why don't we deal with the real problem you exposed?

How about keeping a strong military and making sure the money goes where it is supposed to?

[Graewoulf]

” - - - Republicans’ promise that last December’s budget deal, which reversed parts of the “sequester,” was necessary - - - “

THE OBAMA TROJAN HORSE PARTY

The “Republicans” are really just Trojan Horses sent in by Obama.
They do as they are told to avoid Left Stream Media jeers.
John “The Doormat” Boehner has his paranoid fears:
Obama and the Left Stream Media Journalists will drive him to tears.

And then there is “Capitulation” Cantor,
With a soft Virginia Drawl,
Who wears patches on his knees
From his frequent Cave-In crawls.

Don’t forget “No Resistance” Ryan,
Appeasement is his long suit.
No wonder “Romneycare” Romney
Was such a big Ryan fan.

Obama’s Trojan Horse is now filled with House RINOs,
All promising that in 2014 they will ALL be silent.
The Republican’s RINO Rove, and “Wacko Birds” McCain,
Act as the Loyal Rear Guard for the Obama Trojan Horse.

What we here? So say the skeptical.
Forward, ever FORWARD rolls the Obama Trojan Horse,
Crushing the Constitution, all Checks and Balances,
While the RINOs in Obama’s Trojan Horse stay always silent.

Did Obama capture the House RINOs inside his Trojan Horse?
Did the RINOs stampede on to get there first?
The “What” and the “Why” are just idle chatter,
The RINO Five Years of failure, is what the to voter matters.

With only two years left to Impeach Obama,
Can the Trojan Horse House RINOs be trusted,
What the Constitution requires elected Stewards to do?
Or will reelected House RINOs just continue the Obama trauma?

[MadIsh32]

Lobbysits.

You think Northrup Grammun, Raytheon, GDIT, CSC, etc are just going to let their corporate welfare go away?

Why do you think the military is forced to buy things it doesn’t want or need

[SoConPubbie]

Why do you think the military is forced to buy things it doesn’t want or need

So you would rather use a sledge-hammer to a problem that can be solved with a screw-driver?

You would rather destroy our defensive capability and put our troops in harms way in order to punish the lobbyists?

Why not focus on the problem, and fix it, while leaving one of the fews items that are actually constitutionally based with regards to funding alone?

Also, why not focus on the items that are not constitutionally required like Obamacare, the EPA, the Department of Education, benefits to Illegals, etc.

How about we focus on the problems from a constitutional perspective, not a Libertarian one.

[MadIsh32]

I live inside the DC beltway, so I see exactly what our tax payer dollars are doing when flowing to our government-making my home value go up and enriching contractors in Tysons Corner and all around northern VA. I work in the defense industry, so this actually has an impact on my lifestyle (which, thanks to you the tax payer, is very comfortable)

My approach isn’t the sledgehammer approach at all. I agree, there should be no pay cuts nor benefit cuts for our active/reserve and retired military.

However the dirty secret is all of that doesn’t amount to nearly as much as we give to Lockheed, Northrup, Boeing, CSC, BAE Systems, Harris, etc.

The other departments you mention don’t make nearly the dent in the discretionary budget as Pentagon waste does.

[SoConPubbie]

The other departments you mention don’t make nearly the dent in the discretionary budget as Pentagon waste does.

Not sure how you can make a claim like that:

The U.S. Department of Defense budget accounted in fiscal year 2010 for about 19% of the United States federal budgeted expenditures

[SoConPubbie]

My approach isn’t the sledgehammer approach at all. I agree, there should be no pay cuts nor benefit cuts for our active/reserve and retired military.

That is of primary importance, but what comes in a real close second is making sure we have the strongest and most advanced military in the world.

[MadIsh32]

Add up the total of all the other departments you mentioned and see where you are at.

Now “welfare” can mean lots of things, if you include SSI/Medicare/Medicaid, I agree, those need to be sharply cut tomorrow. Eliminate DOE, Dept of Education as well.

But to reflexively not believe that there is a significant amount of waste in the Pentagon budget that can be cut tomorrow with 0 impact on our ability to defend the nation and project power is silly. It is that chunk that should be immediately cut.

[MadIsh32]

Agree However that isn't happening when you have this http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/the-end-of-the-tank-the-army-says-it-doesnt-need-it-but-industry-wants-to-keep-building-it/2014/01/31/c11e5ee0-60f0-11e3-94ad-004fefa61ee6_story.html You see, the army doesn't want these tanks. Yet the DoD is going to spend 100s of millions of dollars on them because industry wants to keep profiting off them. This is just one of thousands of examples in the DoD. Just see how complex it is to procure a hammer From the article But its plans could be derailed by a Congress unwilling to yield and an industry with a powerful lobby. They argue that letting these lines idle or close would mean letting skills and technology honed over decades go to waste. The Pentagon has “really made a turn in that they are now trying to solve million-dollar problems without billion-dollar solutions, but Congress keeps redirecting them,” said Brett Lambert, who oversaw the Pentagon’s industrial base policy until last year. “This is a zero-sum game. For every dollar the Pentagon spends on something we don’t need . . . it is a dollar we can’t spend on something we do need.”

[SoConPubbie]

But to reflexively not believe that there is a significant amount of waste in the Pentagon budget that can be cut tomorrow with 0 impact on our ability to defend the nation and project power is silly. It is that chunk that should be immediately cut.

You're putting words/ideas in my post that I did not present.

[SoConPubbie]

Now “welfare” can mean lots of things, if you include SSI/Medicare/Medicaid, I agree, those need to be sharply cut tomorrow. Eliminate DOE, Dept of Education as well.

Welfare means everything not prescribed in the Constitution as not belonging to the Feds, but belonging to the States.

Which means most of what the Feds stick their noses into these days.

[MadIsh32]

I feel then we are at a similar spot. I have no issues with defense spending being cut if it results in the elimination of significant waste in the DoD budget