Military Budget

WASHINGTON -- Defense contractors have been granted a one-year reprieve from cuts by the Clinton administration's military budget, which would shrink by $10 billion largely through a reduction in the number of personnel.The $263 billion request to Congress, released yesterday, would preserve what Defense Secretary Les Aspin called "controversial weapon systems," pending a yearlong Pentagon review of strategic and tactical changes dictated by the collapse of the Soviet Union."They [Soviets]

Pundits can argue about the political fallout of the supercommittee failure, but the damage to our national security is indisputable and severe. According to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, the resulting defense cuts will hollow out America's military, slashing fighters, bombers, helicopters, submarines and coastal ships; devastating training and readiness; and cutting the satellites and drones that deliver our surveillance/reconnaissance advantage. After years of cuts, our military already runs lean - down to just 16 percent of federal spending (it was over 40 percent in the 1970s)

WASHINGTON -- The prestigious Brookings Institution jumped into the ever-widening defense debate yesterday with a study claiming that the nation was running out of "demons and villains" to arm against and should chop its military budget by one-third to one-half over the coming decade.Authors of the study -- to be presented today to the House Budget Committee -- said their proposed slashes would save from $316 billion to $424 billion by 2001. Even with those cuts, they said, the United States still would spend more than $2 trillion on defense in the decade.

Back in 2008, George Bush was painted by all Democrats the worst president because of the wars and financial mess we were in. You voted in President Obama, and he can't even rein in his own party to fix the debt ceiling. Americans were fooled thinking this man was going to change things around. Well he's done that! The country is about to get huge tax increases and job losses, and the only ways Democrats can remedy that is to cut seniors' Medicare, cut the military budget and hurt poor, working families.

While I disagree with most of the proposals from the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, I like the idea of cutting $100 billion from the Pentagon budget ("Deficit plan spreads the pain," Nov. 11). Actually, this is chump change for the generals and the admirals who are used to lavish spending of tax dollars, but we need any cut we can get from an out-of-control military budget. Imagine how many lives would be saved if the budget cutbacks meant there were no more drones.

Pundits can argue about the political fallout of the supercommittee failure, but the damage to our national security is indisputable and severe. According to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, the resulting defense cuts will hollow out America's military, slashing fighters, bombers, helicopters, submarines and coastal ships; devastating training and readiness; and cutting the satellites and drones that deliver our surveillance/reconnaissance advantage. After years of cuts, our military already runs lean - down to just 16 percent of federal spending (it was over 40 percent in the 1970s)

Back in 2008, George Bush was painted by all Democrats the worst president because of the wars and financial mess we were in. You voted in President Obama, and he can't even rein in his own party to fix the debt ceiling. Americans were fooled thinking this man was going to change things around. Well he's done that! The country is about to get huge tax increases and job losses, and the only ways Democrats can remedy that is to cut seniors' Medicare, cut the military budget and hurt poor, working families.

WASHINGTON -- Congress no doubt will encounter a political minefield as it tries to find money to delete from the budget in response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, which is estimated to exceed $200 billion to repair. Surprisingly, for politicians on both sides of the aisle, the most promising source of hurricane relief funds, within the federal budget itself, is the Pentagon's regular budget. It might seem paradoxical or even unpatriotic to call for reducing defense spending in the middle of a war. But the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are not being paid for with money from the annual defense budget.

Northrop Grumman Corp.'s plan to cut 500 jobs in the Baltimore region — largely through buyouts but also with 70 layoffs — underscores the uncomfortable shift defense contractors are feeling as the era of big spending growth ends. The Baltimore-area reductions account for most of the nationwide cuts Northrop Grumman is making to its electronic systems sector, which produces airborne radar, navigation systems and other military equipment. The defense-contracting giant notified affected employees at the sector's Linthicum headquarters and several other locations Tuesday that their last day of work would be May 31. Northrop Grumman blamed a reduction in business "that is directly related to the current slow-down in defense spending as well as increasing international economic pressures" — a problem facing not only the industry but the state.

Recently, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a $650 billion Pentagon budget ("House targets 'don't ask, don't tell' repeal," July 9). Am I in a time warp? I thought that it was necessary to cut back on spending in order to cut the deficit. Then I read this: "The Defense Department is the only government agency that will receive a double-digit increase in its budget for fiscal year 2012. " What gives? Why is the War Department funding being increased when social services are being slashed?

Recently, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a $650 billion Pentagon budget ("House targets 'don't ask, don't tell' repeal," July 9). Am I in a time warp? I thought that it was necessary to cut back on spending in order to cut the deficit. Then I read this: "The Defense Department is the only government agency that will receive a double-digit increase in its budget for fiscal year 2012. " What gives? Why is the War Department funding being increased when social services are being slashed?

Northrop Grumman Corp.'s plan to cut 500 jobs in the Baltimore region — largely through buyouts but also with 70 layoffs — underscores the uncomfortable shift defense contractors are feeling as the era of big spending growth ends. The Baltimore-area reductions account for most of the nationwide cuts Northrop Grumman is making to its electronic systems sector, which produces airborne radar, navigation systems and other military equipment. The defense-contracting giant notified affected employees at the sector's Linthicum headquarters and several other locations Tuesday that their last day of work would be May 31. Northrop Grumman blamed a reduction in business "that is directly related to the current slow-down in defense spending as well as increasing international economic pressures" — a problem facing not only the industry but the state.

Fifty years ago today, on Jan. 17, 1961, President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued his prophetic warning about the military-industrial complex, anticipating the increased political, economic, military and even cultural influence of the Pentagon and its allies. Several weeks earlier, he had privately told his senior advisers in the Oval Office of the White House, "God help this country when someone sits in this chair who doesn't know the military as well as I do. " Several months after his inauguration in 1953, he warned against warfare that had "humanity hanging from a cross of iron.

While I disagree with most of the proposals from the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, I like the idea of cutting $100 billion from the Pentagon budget ("Deficit plan spreads the pain," Nov. 11). Actually, this is chump change for the generals and the admirals who are used to lavish spending of tax dollars, but we need any cut we can get from an out-of-control military budget. Imagine how many lives would be saved if the budget cutbacks meant there were no more drones.

We hear every day that the crises President-elect Barack Obama will inherit are even worse than we knew. During his news conference Monday to present his new economic team, Mr. Obama spoke of the need for "meaningful cuts and sacrifices" in the federal budget. But where will a nation almost $10 trillion in debt find the cash to save the banking system, invest in "green collar" jobs, insure every American, keep our bridges from collapsing and make certain that - this time, really - no child is left behind?

WASHINGTON -- If you think Republicans are the party of small government, then you don't know Donald H. Rumsfeld's Defense Department. Five years of hefty increases have raised the Pentagon budget 40 percent, to well over $1 billion a day. Add in special appropriations for the war in Iraq, and the annual total approaches half a trillion dollars. The good news is that all that money gives America's military far more reach and firepower than any other military on Earth. The bad news is that even Mr. Rumsfeld isn't sure it is buying the kind of military posture that can cope with future threats (he has repeatedly expressed doubts)

Washington -- The Senate Armed Services Committee endorsed yesterday President Clinton's new policy to allow homosexuals to serve in the military, but the panel added a provision that would allow the defense secretary to restore the practice of asking recruits about their sexuality if the Pentagon believes it is necessary to maintain combat readiness.Pentagon officials said the provision was only congressional guidance, not binding language, and did not substantively alter the administration's plan.

WASHINGTON -- Here's a tricky question for the serious budget-wonks:Where in the federal budget would you find spending for:* Breast-cancer research.* Environmental cleanup efforts.* Drug-enforcement programs.* Financing for public schools.* Aid to the Soviet Union.* Jobs for workers in Connecticut.* Rifle practice for neighborhood teens.* Government support for the 1996 Olympics.* Memorial Day and July 4th concerts?If you're busily thumbing through the spending programs for all 149 federal departments and agencies, let us save you the trouble: Look under "Department of Defense, Military."

WASHINGTON -- Congress no doubt will encounter a political minefield as it tries to find money to delete from the budget in response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, which is estimated to exceed $200 billion to repair. Surprisingly, for politicians on both sides of the aisle, the most promising source of hurricane relief funds, within the federal budget itself, is the Pentagon's regular budget. It might seem paradoxical or even unpatriotic to call for reducing defense spending in the middle of a war. But the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are not being paid for with money from the annual defense budget.