Harry Reid’s defense cuts: A ‘disastrous impact’

Washington Post ^ | July26,2011 | Jennifer Rubin

[cherry]

cut the wars...but the pensions/medical is also way out of line....I say that as one who eventually get in on some of that....

[Terry Mross]

All part of the master plan.

I have to admit I think the Tea Party elections really screwed up obama’s plans to destroy this nation. But it hasn’t stopped him from continueing to try.

[andyk]

The Pentagon cuts are too few, not too many. We can’t afford to keep policing the world.

You're probably right. I'd like to see an itemization of how much it costs us to subsidize wealthy countries like Korea, Japan, and Germany, along with the 700 installations we have in 150 countries around the world. Seems like perhaps we could spend less abroad, and spend more on R&D, and protection of the US, and spend less overall. I'm afraid that under cover of national security, we'll spend ourselves into oblivion.

[Tucker39]

There is only one person I can think of who has the sand to tackle THAT project....reducing the number of bureaucrats in DC....and that is Sarah Palin. I believe anyone else you can name would whimp out when the media began to scream bloody murder and call them names!

Eliminate the Depts. of Education, Energy, etc? It will take a person with a 303 Stainless Steel backbone to even MENTION something THAT meaningful!

[Terry Mross]

If there are REAL cuts unemployment is going to shoot through the roof. Where are the fed employees going to go?

As I’ve said on other threads, there will be no savings because all those laid off will be replaced by the federal police needed to quell the riots. In fact, the government will probably just transfer them to the new National Police and Riot Intervention Agency.

[DManA]

First you pare down the missions, then you pay for the downsizing.

Then you cut the budget.

Reid wants to do it the bass ackwards.

[Colonel Kangaroo]

This is not about policing the world. The sixties are gone. This is about maintaining and projecting American power as a deterrent in a dangerous and unstable world. get it? good

Projecting power ruined Hapsburg Spain, Louis XIV, Napoleon, Great Britain and the Soviet Union. Hopefully before we join that list, we'll return to the traditional Constitutional role of defense of defending the USA homeland and the sea lanes and let the rest of the world bear their own burdens of their own dangerous world. That way we get relatively economically stronger and our potential foes would get economically weaker which is good for relative US power and our real security.

[PGalt]

Harry POS Reid ALERT!

Before we ever get to Defense...how many of these agencies can we DEFUND & DISMANTLE?

http://www.usa.gov/Agencies/Federal/All_Agencies/index.shtml

DEFUND socialist collectives, foreign and domestic.

[MontaniSemperLiberi]

I don’t get it.

We spend more than China, France, United Kingdom, Russia, Japan, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Italy, India, Brazil, South Korea, Canada, Australia, Spain, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Israel, Netherlands, Greece and Colombia combined.

Excluding France, United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Italy, South Korea, Canada, Australia, Spain, Israel, Netherlands, Greece and Colombia we outspend (about) the rest of the world combined.

We can afford a cut in defense spending which has increased 44% since the Democrats took congress in 2006.

[Grey Eagle]

Cutting the military this deep at this time, will put our troops at risk. Wait until the troops are home. Cut foreign aide, except to Israel, cut a lot of money to the UN, cut Obamacare, Dept. of Education, ACORN (supposed to cut, but haven’t), and other radical liberal groups. Cuts to these groups would likely be over a trillion dollars.

[newzjunkey]

Defense is already taking cuts under Gates.

As a portion of GDP it's below average. Obama's driving it down where Clinton was driving it and you know what that got us: 9/11.

[MontaniSemperLiberi]

I agree that it is at a historical low as a percent of GDO.

Taiwan has much more to fear from China than us yet they spend less, as a percent of GDP, than we do.

[Captain Kirk]

No, it is time to ALSO take Israel off the public teat. No exceptions!!! They are rich enough to take care of themselves and ending welfare for them will enable them to pursue an independent course. If you think that the troops will ever come home if we fail to cut the Pentagon budget now, you are using the same logic as leftists who say that we have to raise the debt ceiling and deal with spending cuts as a “separate issue.”