Free Republic

John Boehner and the rest of the GOP RINO establishment didn’t have enough Conservative votes to pass their $1.1 TRILLION budget. That’s because while these so-called “Republicans” criticized Obama’s amnesty in public, their budget completely funded it. More than 60 Republicans voted against the spending bill, forcing Boehner to get approximately 50 Democrats to vote for it. GOP leaders blocked any anti-amnesty amendments and allowed the bill to proceed without any mention of Obama’s amnesty. That means that newly “legalized” illegal aliens will begin receiving working papers and become eligible for Social Security and Medicare as soon as they come...

Lt. Col. (Ret.) Dar Place was two feet away when his friend and fellow soldier took his own life during the Gulf War. Two decades later, like so many other veterans, Place is still haunted by the plague of suicide in the military. “I personally saw my driver after Desert Storm in his tank put a gun underneath his mouth and pull the trigger, while I was no further away from him than I am from you right now,” Place told the Washington Free Beacon at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. He was one of the...

Dear Congressman ________, The proposed cuts in national defense will injure the security of the United States of America. 1. The most common enemy the USA is now fighting consists of insurgents. The only remedy for insurgency that has worked is General Petraeus' surge strategy of ground troops. It worked in Iraq and Afghanistan when consistently applied, and it's the only thing that has worked. The only way to "air power" insurgents is to bomb villages, and that will never happen. That leaves ground troops being the only answer. Cutting the Army at this time is completely irrational. 2. The...

Full title: Col. Oliver North: 'There is no strategy' to the defense budget that reduces military to pre-WWII levelsVIDEO at link: Ollie North up to the 4:45 minute mark. GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: Colonel Oliver North joins us. Nice to see you, Colonel. LT. COL. OLIVER NORTH, HOST, 'WAR STORIES' & FORMERLY U.S. MARINE CORPS: Good to be with you but not on a day like this. VAN SUSTEREN: All right. I was going to ask you two things. Two-part question. First, do we have to make cuts in the military? Is that smart and wise? And secondly,...

The NYT reports that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will today announce plans to slash the United States Army’s fighting force to its smallest level since before World War II as well as eliminating an entire class of attack aircraft, including the fearsome A-10. Obama officials say that the smaller fighting force reflects budget realities and an end to large-scale foreign wars.

Hagel holds press briefing to discuss defense budget

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is due to decrease the size of the U.S. Army to its lowest levels since before World War II, The New York Times reported on Monday. He’s due to unveil the new budget plan on Monday. Among his plans: Reduce the troop level in the Army from its high of 570,000 — the number recorded just after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on American soil — to 440,000 or 450,000, the smallest since 1940, The Hill reported. “You have to always keep your institution prepared, but you can’t carry a large land-war Defense Department when...

The military must prepare for major upheaval, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said Tuesday, because meeting the budgetary and security challenges of the future will “require significant change across every aspect of our defense enterprise.” And deep cuts in end strength could be just one of the results. (snip) “We may have to accept the reality that not every unit will be at maximum readiness, and some kind of a tiered readiness system is perhaps inevitable,” Hagel said. “This carries the risk that the President would have fewer options to fulfill our national security objectives.” (snip) “We will need to...

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel rejected the suggestion that President Barack Obama tapped him to “cut the heart out of the Pentagon,” pointedly reminding lawmakers Thursday that Congress approved the smaller, deficit-driven military budgets long before he took the job. Faced with a $487 billion budget cut over a decade, Hagel and Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the Pentagon had no choice in drawing up the politically unpopular reductions in the president's proposed $526.6 billion budget for next year. The blueprint calls for another round of domestic base closures, higher health care fees for...

Air shows, tourism big losers as budget cuts ground Blue Angels, other military stunt flyers Russ Bynum, The Associated Press Mar 10, 2013 01:29:06 PM SAVANNAH, Georgia – Deep budget cuts in Washington mean military flight teams will likely be no-shows at air shows across the U.S. starting this spring, leaving dozens of host cities bracing for thinner crowds and lost tourism dollars. When $85 billion in automatic cuts kicked in March 1, the Air Force cancelled shows at bases from Florida to Arizona and grounded its formation-flying pilots, the Thunderbirds. The Army’s Golden Knights parachute team also cancelled performances....

The plan to discourage retirees and families from relying on TRICARE has some support in the Senate. CBO says restricting Prime access to retirees under 65 and their family members would save as much as $10 billion a year. The servicemembers and retirees should be aware that the deal to avoid the “fiscal cliff” is likely to impact their families as much as the sequestration itself.

The DOD budget unveiled February 13 recommends 1.7 percent military pay raises for 2013 and 2014, followed by a scant 0.5 percent increase in 2015, and 1 percent in 2016. Also announced were plans to almost quadruple Tricare Prime enrollment fees for some working age military retirees, impose Tricare for Life enrollment fees on those older than 65, and introduce enrollment fees and increased deductibles on Tricare Standard and Extra users. Included in DOD’s healthcare revenue plan are increased pharmaceutical copayments for retirees as well as military dependents. DOD also recommends reducing the size of the active force by more...

At the Pentagon this week the liberals’ biggest fantasy has now become reality. Barack Obama is cutting the military budget and using the “savings” to fund social programs. In a rare press conference in the Pentagon, he called for a major reduction of the U.S. Armed forces over the next ten years. Obama’s strategy is to reduce America’s presence in Europe and redirect our Strategic forces towards the Middle East and Asia, leaving the defense of Europe in the hands of NATO. Obama’s plan shifts strategic force to the Asia-Pacific region to counter China’s growing military threat. The movement of...

VFW Presses Senator McCain on Support: VFW National Commander Richard DeNoyer expressed the organization's strongest opposition today to ongoing efforts by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) to further balance the budget on the backs of military service members, their families, and retirees. In a letter, the Chief wrote that McCain's acceptance of proposals to examine the current retirement system along with military pay, allowances and their tax implications, plus to suggest excluding military retirees from TRICARE Prime, implies that his unwavering support of the military exists only as long as you are...

Save the Lightning Why we need the F-35 By Thomas Donnelly The Weekly Standard Tuesday, September 6, 2011 Thanks to the provisions of the Budget Control Act and the subsequent directions of President Obama's budget director, Jack Lew, the Department of Defense is figuring out how to trim $1 trillion from its current and planned budgets. Perhaps the principal target in the sights is the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program (aka the Lightning II)—a fact that neatly encapsulates the Pentagon's severe budgetary, programmatic, operational, and strategic problems. It's only modest hyperbole to conclude that as fares the Lightning, so fares...

WASHINGTON – As the commanders of the Army, Air Force and Marines cautioned the U.S. Senate against abruptly repealing the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, critics are also warning that accepting open homosexuality and pro-homosexual "reprogramming" could drive massive numbers of troops out of the service.

The link at Thomas.gov for HR 1586 doesn't work because Congress doesn't want the details of this bill revealed. Congress paid for the teacher bailout with defense cuts. Here are some of the "recissions":Sec. 303. Of the funds appropriated in Department of Defense Appropriations Acts, the following funds are rescinded from the following accounts in the specified amounts: ‘Aircraft Procurement, Army, 2008/2010’, $21,000,000; ‘Procurement of Weapons and Tracked Combat Vehicles, Army, 2008/2010’, $21,000,000; ‘Procurement of Ammunition, Army, 2008/2010’, $17,000,000; ‘Other Procurement, Army, 2008/2010’, $75,000,000; ‘Weapons Procurement, Navy, 2008/2010’, $26,000,000; ‘Other Procurement, Navy, 2008/2010’, $42,000,000; ‘Procurement, Marine Corps, 2008/2010’, $13,000,000; ‘Aircraft...

US President Barack Obama (R) speaks with top US General in Iraq, Ray Odierno, upon arrival at Baghdad International Airport. Obama said on a surprise visit to Iraq on Tuesday that the next 18 months could be "critical" and told the war-torn country that it would soon have to look after itself. President Barack Obama gestures while speaking to military personnel at Camp Victory in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, April 7, 2009.

Powerful Ambitions * North Korean Dreams: The development of the ballistic missile program has been one of the top military priorities for North Korea for almost 40 years. As a result it now has the largest ballistic missile program among all developing countries. Not only does North Korea constantly seek to advance their own ballistic missile capabilities, but it also shares ballistic missile technology with other nations such as Iran. * But Will Their Missiles Reach the U.S? The April 4 so-called “satellite launch” demonstrated North Korea’s latest Taepo Dong-2 advancements. According to reports, the first stage of the missile...

Two defense officials who were not authorized to speak publicly said Gates will announce up to a half-dozen major weapons cancellations later this month. Candidates include a new Navy destroyer, the Air Force's F-22 fighter jet, and Army ground-combat vehicles, the offi cials said. More cuts are planned for later this year after a review that could lead to reductions in programs such as aircraft carriers and nuclear arms, the officials said.