The interim proposal for the US deficit commission is said to seek a $100 billion cut in planned military spending over the next five years, with cuts centered around weapons programs but also focusing on health care costs and overseas bases.
Though such a cut would be enormous for any other military on the planet, it is actually comparatively paltry for the impossibly large US defense budget, and indeed will likely only be a fraction of the size the military’s budget will grow over that period.
And even this assumes that the cuts pass at all, as they will undoubtedly be controversial as President Obama and a number of top Republican Congressmen are trying to out-hawk one another, and talks seem to be centering around next year’s military budget exceeding three quarters of a trillion dollars.
But the cuts shy away from the massive military expenditures of America’s overseas adventures and the enormous nuclear weapons arsenal, and even $100 billion over five years would have little impact on America’s budget deficit. With a number of incoming Tea Party Congressmen centering their campaigns around a balanced budget it seems these minor cuts, difficult though they may be to get passed, will need to be increased dramatically if they are to have lasting impact on the budget.
Jason, America has as much intention of decreasing its military budget as I have of getting pregnant!
America lives for war. Its industries thrive on war. Its lust for power is infinite. Its thirst for blood knows no bounds. It is a barbaric anachronism that belongs in the Dark Ages.
America must be removed from its perch.
It is no eagle, more a vulture.
http://www.dangerouscreation.com
There will be "cuts" but they just won't be real. They will be "headline" cuts with absolutely no truth to them. I don't believe the "defense" budget figures now. If the "official" budget is 700 billion I think a good rule of thumb is to double that and throw in another half trillion for ancillary costs.
If any cuts will be made – they will be made on the health-care for vets (which money will then be pumped right back into another facet of the MIC.)
You know – it's actually an indictment of our media that there is often more truth and criticism of the military and its spending in the newspapers run by the military for the members of the military than there is in the New York Times or Washington Post (and I won't mention TeeVee news in this country is so obscenely false that anyone who watches the evening news or a 24/7 cable news channels is actually less well informed than someone who does not follow the news at all.
Ever talk to an MSM "news junkie"? They are insane and live in fantasy land.
America is being ruled by arm forces and defence industry and they have guns and is not possible to cut the budget of arm forces and agencies.
I can say this is the history of failed states.
A timke will come when america will kicked out from every side especially from Muslim countries as our population is ca 2 billion in the world.
We hate them because in the form of friend they had been worst enemies of Muslims and their countries.
The day we are allowed to take our money from america then america is finished.
Why is this info never given in annual terms.
This is $20 billion PER YEAR out of roughly $1 trillion in a "national security budget." That is 2% ,an amount that can easily be hidden in the "black budget."
In other words crumbs, a sop.
John V. Walsh
It ought to be cut 600 billion.
It ought to be cut 600 billion. That would make it a DEFENSE budget instead of an OFFENSE budget.
lets get those tea partiers out on the streets, no more national health care or education for soldiers!
A mere $20 billion per year? That's a rounding error in the Pentagon budget.
With Uncle Sam spending north of $3.8 trillion next year, that amounts to more than $10 billion every single day. In other words, these proposed cuts get us through the weekend. Then what?
I was going to suggest that our leaders grow a collective spine and do what's necessary to bring some semblance of fiscal sanity to the situation. Clearly, that is a pipedream.
Instead, let's wait until our government and their banking buddies at the Fed completely destroy the dollar (they're working overtime to make that happen). Then all the talk about foreign wars, overseas bases, welfare goodies, and other "free" stuff becomes a distant memory. No one will want to lend America money, so we'll once again have to live within our means. I, for one, can't wait for that day to arrive.