[rbg81]

but a rising number of deficit hawks in the Republican Party are willing to trim Department of Defense (DoD) spending as well.

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Of course, the real way to cut the deficit is by cutting entitlements, but that will never happen with the bunch of spineless bastards in Congress. You cut ALL defense spending and still have a gaping deficit. Before this charade is over, that’s probably what will happen too.

[Signalman]

Cutting way back on the Defense budget is going to have a significant effect on the unemployment numbers. There are hundreds of thousands of people who work for defense contractors, especially in the metro areas of L.A., Boston, Washington D.C. and many others.

[ken21]

most dire.

[DJ MacWoW]

Click The Pic

As a very important source of strength and security, cherish public credit. One method of preserving it is to use it as sparingly as possible: avoiding occasions of expence by cultivating peace, but remembering also that timely disbursements to prepare for danger frequently prevent much greater disbursements to repel it; avoiding likewise the accumulation of debt, not only by shunning occasions of expence, but by vigorous exertions in time of Peace to discharge the Debts which unavoidable wars may have occasioned, not ungenerously throwing upon posterity the burthen which we ourselves ought to bear.
George Washington

[Myrddin]

My employer is primarily focused on DoD. That is reflected in our stock price. It was around $18 in May 2009. Has dropped as far as $11.06 in recent months. Too much of my retirement money is/was tied up that way. I got hosed in a big way when Obama took office. Both of my contracts evaporated. Six months functionally unemployed with no contract work to fund my paycheck. Lots of vacation hours burned to stay afloat. I had to relocate myself to San Diego to keep earning a pay check. My family is still comfortably situated in our Idaho home. I own the house and the cost of living is much lower than San Diego. Ready to go home anytime I can land a contract to work from my home office again.

[zeestephen]

“.....and it’s increasingly looking as if the automatic cuts will be the path.”

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Wrong.

There will be NO automatic cuts.

Only cuts DISGUISED to look like automatic cuts.

Shameless political camouflage so all involved can shrug and claim, “There was nothing I could do.”

And the sickest news of all...

Government spending, government debt, and money printing will still go up EVERY year.

[Noob1999]

Of course, the best thing that our government could do, is to dramatically increase defense spending for essentials - in the near term.

Build vehicles; build bomb casings, build artillary; build all kinds of sub-assemblies. But, immediately shrink wrap all this stuff, without tires, batteries, munitions, advanced electronics, perishables. Stuff that would deteriorate or become obsolete in a distant future.

Give us a stockpile of ready weaponry for an unknown future war, with the basic guts of what will be needed.

Employment now; military savings later; with an immediate ability to rapidly mobilize troops for the future hotspots!

[Cronos]

We should shut down all bases in Western Europe and Taiwan.

Western Europe because, come on, in the line of fire before Germany is Poland.

Maybe move them to Poland? I don't know, but I do know Poland would be cheaper than Germany

Ditto for Taiwan -- and my reasoning for that is that the Taiwanese have bankrolled mainland china for more than a decade -- why should we defend them when they have sold themselve out?

I support keeping bases in Japan and S. Korea -- they are strong allies.