Looming Battles Over Pentagon Spending Cuts
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2013-01-31/looming-battles-over-pentagon-spending-cuts
The Senate Armed Services Committee begins hearings today on the controversial nomination of Chuck Hagel for Secretary of Defense. If confirmed, one of the first things he will face at the Pentagon is a looming budget crisis on March 1. That is when across-the-board spending cuts would kick in, unless Congress and President Barack Obama agree on a plan to reduce the federal deficit before then. The effects of sequestration could be compounded later in March if Congress fails to pass a 2013 defense appropriation bill and extends the continuing resolution instead. Hagel says the cuts would be “devastating” to the Pentagon and harm military readiness. A panel joins Diane to discuss uncertainties over defense spending and how they could affect national security.
Guests
Gordon Adams
professor at the School of International Service at American University, fellow at The Stimson Center, and former senior White House defense budget official in the Clinton administration.
Thomas Donnelly
defense and security policy analyst, director of the Center for Defense Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, and co-author of "Lessons for a Long War: How America Can Win on New Battlefields."
Kate Brannen
defense reporter at Politico.
Comments
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On September 10,2001,the Pentagon announced they`ve misplaced $2 Trillion +. We have a military "TO BIG TO AUDIT". To big to fail?? We are an Imperialist nation.It`s expensive,and creates more enemies. The former Soviet Union learned their lesson,when will we?
We have the politics of cowards,who endorse a bloated military,but are afraid to protect American jobs and workers.Let the "Job Creators" pay for the navy that protects their Chinese made goods,or let the Chinese provide security.
It`s time for those who say they care about government spending and waste,to put up or shut up.
Probably the only time I will ever agree with Clifford.
I'm sure the waste fraud and abuse that permeates every other government department and program also exists in the Pentagon. So yeah let's cut it, along with everything else. Somewhere in the neighborhood of an immediate 10% budget cut across the board floats my boat. Were going to need to finance all those illegals that will be going on to Obamacare if the dem's get their way pretty soon, those trillion dollar coins just don't go as far as they used too.
The Pentagon and its inhabitants are mostly interested in keeping alive their own financial well being rather than any "defense" that could be devised. President Eisenhower rightfully predicted the future of the "military industrial complex"......they have become an entity with a self fulfilling purpose. They continue to foster vastly expensive programs that far exceed rationality or usefulness......weapons to fight old foes and imagined ones, systems to add horses and bayonets to naval vessels, fighters that exceed the physical ability of pilots to man them.
Atomic weapons deter foes who no longer exist.
President's proposed discretionary spending:
http://nationalpriorities.org/media/uploads/federal_budget_101/Figure8.4...
President's proposed total spending:
http://nationalpriorities.org/media/uploads/federal_budget_101/Figure8.2...
In WW II we had almost 16 Million men in the Military.
Today about 1.4 Million
About bloat in the Military budget.
In WW II there was 1.5 General Staff Officers per 10,000 soldiers.
Today there are 7 General Staff Officers per 10,000 soldiers
Ever wonder what those $350,000/yr General Staff officers do to deserve that pay plus 70-80% retirement benefit after 25-30 yrs plus free medical care for life plus PX privileges.
We're one of the families that will be affected by the potential furloughs for civilian employees in the Defense Dept. I'd like people to understand that this is not limited just to those who will take the pay cuts. My husband's office was forewarned so that we could do some planning to deal with this should congress not act by March 1st. In our particular planning, this will have an impact on small businesses in our community, from the hardware store where I buy bird feed to our neighbor who is a contractor who would have done some work on our house. I know this isn't a huge news flash, but people need to realize that just because their jobs aren't affected yet, this is a trickle down situation and not in a good way.
Here's a graph showing growth of Military "Staff Officers" since WW II per every 10,000 soldiers.
http://fabiusmaximus.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/20120910-pogo-11.jpg
We MUST cut some of the waste rampant at our hundreds of foreign military bases in countries FAR from war areas. See: http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0115-08.htm. We have over 700 military bases that most Americans don't know about and don't realize that we support in relative luxury. Many of our poor could live well out of their dumpsters. The waste is sinful because the living is luxurious. Food, clothing, furniture, etc., are way more than necessary, especially considering the generous financial outlays in salaries. I'm sure a good billion could be recouped by closing some of these bases.
Could your guest/guests comment on the threat China represents, both strategically and Regionally in SE Asia, now ands in the near future?
Too often we assume that our defense investments are totally within our discretion rather than being driven by the emergence of a country like China with its vast and growiung military funding and capabilities.
I _am_ angry. I am furious. The Congress is not doing its job. They have not passed a budget in years and they are trying to govern by blackmail. Throw them all out.
Charlotte
I just heard someone discuss on the phone that we’re paying Military personnel more than civilian contractors.
My cousin just finished his 4 years with the Army and he was a cook. I’m not sure what his Rank was, but when he left he was in charge of making sure others had the correct items prepared, cooked, and served for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner. The people who did this same job in the Civilian Contracts were getting paid $25-$30/hour, where as he was getting around $9. Yes, while deployed he received more as well, but so did the Civilian Contractors doing the same work overseas.
Why not remove Civilian Contractors and use our low rank/in-training military personnel to do these jobs?
An entire carrier was built that the navy did not want, because it was in a congressma's state. A gulf coast state, not TX and not FL.
Please research that and respond. Thank you. I emphasie, the USNavy did not want it at all, and told congress so..
I am the spouse of a active duty military service member and in listening to your show I was alarmed when one of the panelists spoke of looking at military "entitlements" when cutting the budget and gave specific figures on the cost of healthcare a service member and their families pays versus the cost of a civilian and their family. I completely agree that military families pay much less in healthcare than the average family, however the average family does not make the kinds of sacrifice our service members and their families are made too and by virtue of this point these are not "entitlements" but rather BENEFITS that we EARN over the course of their career. The military is one of the only establishments that exists today in which someone can make decent wages, have healthcare benefits, and earn a retirement if they choose to make a career out of it, thus if the Pentagon continues to cut these benefits there will be no incentive to serve in the military anymore. Our active duty service members and their families are experiencing changes to the benefits we value, and recruitment WILL eventually suffer if this trend continues in which the service members and their families are the ones experiencing the brunt if these "cuts".
A caller mentioned surplus of military goods sitting idle and one of the panel members denied this was happening.
CNN article: Over 2,000 M-1 Abrams tanks sitting at a tank farm collecting dust. The article states $3 billion could be saved if several things occur with the tanks to include not building more.
http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2012/10/09/army-to-congress-thanks-but-no-...
The military paid $720 million in late fees for cargo containers not returned in a timely manner during the war.
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/washington/story/2011-08-28/Pentagon...
Hopefully this will be helpful. Thanks for your show.