Seems to me that the bottom line here is that Republicans have once again fumbled the ball by agreeing to automatic cuts that hit DOD employees harder than entitlement programs that actually need cutting.
They have compounded the error by not pointing out that the cuts are going to hit producers harder than takers.
Frankly, I think DOD employees shouldn’t be immune to across the board spending cuts, but they sure as Hell shouldn’t be the focus of targeted cuts.
That's about it in a nutshell.
Keep in mind that these budget cuts are already affecting every aspect of the Department of Defense. From deployments to healthcare.
It isn't like the DoD had not contributed to cuts - they have. It is the only Federal agency that has taken real budget cuts.
The problem seems to be that the politicos cannot see their way to telling the "takers" that incredible appetite for a Government check has outlasted the fiscal realities.