Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel gave yet another in a series of mostly identical speeches from Pentagon officials criticizing defense cuts as “too fast, too much, too abrupt and too irresponsible.”
Budget cuts have been coming for quite some time, and as the Obama Administration’s third defense chief, Hagel is continuing the process of insisting they can’t happen. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh gave his own comments in an interview suggesting it was doable, however.
According to Gen. Welsh, the big issue is Congress not giving the chiefs of staff authority to tackle the major parts of their overall budget, bases and personnel costs.
“Those two things make up 55 percent of our overall budget,” Welsh noted, saying that the cuts need to focus on base closures and reduced numbers of personnel, both of which have appeared to be non-starters in Congress.
Step 1: Cut our military spending to what the rest of the world combined spends on the military.
Step 2: Then remove our NATO and other allies from that total, and cut our defense spending to what the remainder of the rest of the world spends.
Hagel and the Pentagon are destroying America with their massive and un-needed spending. Our economy is in the tank. We've failed to make necessary investments in infrastructure and education and health. We pay too much in taxes. We pay too much in interest. They are destroying America.
Again, Congress seems to be at odds with the idea of actually responsibly cutting costs – though they talk a fiscally responsible game.
The Pentagon is the nations biggest welfare program, especially in the Red States. When they tried to close a useless B1 bomber base it was denounced as eliminating the second largest employers in Dakota after WalMart. Good luck with the closures.
America could spend almost nothing on defense. Mexico and Canada are not going to attack.
But then the Washington 'elites' wouldn't have a toy to use to meddle around the world with.