I think Rush Limbaugh is contributing to the fallacy, and many Conservatives who have no idea what is truly going on.
Yes, a baseline budgeting is a reality. There is planned growth in every budget, and liberals always decried every proposed reduction as a "cut" and the media carried their water.
Certain increases had to be forecasted into any budget. The increase in fuel costs alone has taken huge forecasts of the military budget put them into negative territory.
The Freepers here who think the evisceration of the US military that is taking place is all smoke and mirrors are WRONG, and dead wrong. They tune in their AM radio station, hit a few Twitter keystrokes, and think the world revolves around their musings. It does not.
The US military is reeling from a previous $487 Billion cut under King Obama 1. The conflict between the Congress and the President on the budget in the form of the Continuing Resolution has frozen funds and decreased the military operating budget. The Sequestration is the final knife.
Military pay and most procurement dollars cannot be touched during this fiasco, so Operations and Maintenance is going to be gutted.
If you don't know the facts, please learn them before engaging keyboard. Most Americans are as clueless as American Idol commercial watchers. We do not need more of those here.
What is happening is a total meltdown of the US military, right before our eyes. And many Republicans and Conservatives are either clueless or complicit.