The lack of a final military funding bill is causing “severe problems” for the Pentagon, according to Deputy Secretary of Defense William Lynn, who addressed the House Armed Services Committee today to demand the passage of the new funding.
Right now the military is operating at 2010 budget levels indefinitely, which gives them “only” $530 billion of taxpayer money. Though officials were quick to make a big deal of the $7-$8 billion in “cuts” which might be inserted into the 2011 funding, the level is still expected to rise to beyond $700 billion.
The comments come at a rare moment in recent US history, where many people are actually questioning the wisdom of running massive deficits while spending more than nearly the entire rest of the planet combined on the military. This makes President Obama’s massive request for funding, despite it having been spun as a “cut,” controversial to say the least.
