Defense spending, as a part of the budget, is at lower levels then during Reagan and (gasp!) Vietnam I think.
And we want to cut it more. Brilliant. On Oct 30, 4:22 pm, "Keith In Tampa" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > *Whack DoD By 25 Percent: Dem. Barney Frank* > > By Colin Clark Friday, October 24th, 2008 2:53 pm > Posted in Air <http://www.dodbuzz.com/category/air-warfare/>, > Intelligence<http://www.dodbuzz.com/category/intelligence/>, > Land <http://www.dodbuzz.com/category/land-warfare/>, > Naval<http://www.dodbuzz.com/category/naval-warfare/>, > Policy <http://www.dodbuzz.com/category/policy/>, > Space<http://www.dodbuzz.com/category/space/> > > http://www.dodbuzz.com/2008/10/24/whack-dod-by-25-percent-dem-barney-... > > So far most of the talk about the next Pentagon budget has been relatively > optimistic and cautious. The Gates Pentagon clearly believes it must > maintain spending at or above current levels to support forces in Iraq and > Afghanistan and buy weapons for future conflicts. > > But that view is clearly not shared by some Democrats. As a GOP email > screamed this afternoon: "HOUSE DEMOCRAT CALLS FOR $150 BILLION CUT TO > DEFENSE SPENDING." > > Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Financial Services > Committee, told a Massachusetts newspaper > yesterday<http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081024/NE...>that > "the Pentagon has to start choosing from its many weapons programs." > > The paper quotes Frank saying that the U.S. doesn't "need all these fancy > new weapons." And he is not alone among Democrats assuming that defense > spending must drop. > > Rep. John Murtha (D-Penn.), chairman of the House Appropriations defense > subcommittee, told Congressional Quarterly on Oct. 2 that the Pentagon will > have to choose between the size of the Army and paying for weapons. Of > course, Congress recently passed legislation requiring 65,000 new Army > troops and 27,000 new Marines over the next five years. > > The GOP quotes one of the two contenders to become ranking member of the > House Armed Services Committee, Rep. John McHugh (R-NY), saying such a cut > would be "reckless" and could lead the US to repeat previous mistakes when > the country has made large cuts to the military. "It would be unconscionable > to repeat the mistakes of the past on the back of nearly a decade of direct > combat operations." McHugh does concede that "current economic conditions > will likely demand tough choices—but these choices should not be at the > expense of our men and women in uniform." --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
